The Greek word ethnos(plural: ethnon) does not adequately and accurately translate the Hebrew word goy(plural: goyim). No word in Greek can adequately translate “goy(im).” It is from the Greek word “ethnos” that we derive the English word ethnic and its cognates. Admittedly, ethnos is the nearest Greek word to the Hebrew goy. Whenever the word ethnos is mentioned, what comes to mind is the English equivalent, nation. Admittedly, the Hebrew word “goy” is also used to refer to a nation. For example, God promised to make a Abraham a great nation, “goy gadol”(Gen.12:20. The modern socio-political concept of nation is that of nation-state such as Ghana, Nigeria etc. However, in Hebrew, the word goy is any person other than a Jew. The Jewish political and religious mindset recognizes only two groups of people in broad categories, viz; the Jew who is any descendant of Abraham through Jacob, and the non-jew which is the rest of humanity. In other words anyone who is not a descendant of Abraham through Jacob. The Jews are the “circumcision,” and the non-Jews are the “uncircumcision” or “goyim”(Eph.2:11).
The term Jew is an English derivative of the Hebrew “Yehudi,” which means man of Judah, the official reference to the Israelite of the Southern Kingdom under the leadership of the Davidic dynasty. After the Babylonian captivity of 586 BC, it became the common appellative of all Israelites of both the Southern and Northern Kingdoms descent. We must remember that the Northern Kingdom was taken into captivity into Assyria in 722 BC. As Assyria was defeated by the Neo-Babbylonian Empire in 612 BC at the battle of Nineve, the Israelite exiles in its realm of Northern Kingdom descent were absorbed into the Neo-Babylonian Empire. Thusly, the name of Judah gained supremacy over his brethren in fulfillment of the prophecy of Jacob concerning Judah on his deathbed in Goshen in the land of Egypt: ” Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise”(Gen.49:8).
The LXX consistently translates goy as ethnos. In English ethnos and goy are variously translated as nation , heathen or pagan. Both heathen and pagan smirk of religious discrimination. In judaistic religious thought any non-Jewish person is a goy, a heathen or pagan- a person that does not know the God of Israel- a person in a non-covenantal relationship with the Jahweh of Judah, the LORD GOD of Israel. Therefore there were the Jews and the heathen which referred to the non-Israelite ethnic groups that inhabited the land of Canaan primarily, and generally the rest of humanity. This is the judaistic and OT dichotomous view of humanity. The OT dichotomous view is a broad categorical view which did not take cognizance of the petty religious discrimination and racial segregation within Judaism which classified Gentile proselytes to Judaism into several categories. The only way for a non-Jew not to be a heathen or pagan was to convert to Judaism, i.e., become a Jew. When a non-Jew converted to Judaism, he or she is no longer a pagan or heathen, but a Jew, though with reservations contingent on the depth of conversion and degree of commitment and observance of the Law of Moses. This understanding probably explains why the worshippers in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost were regarded as Jews though, obviously some were proselytes to Judaism(Acts 2:10).
The predominantly Jewish protochurch in Jerusalem expressed bewilderment over the gift of the Holy Spirit to non-Jews who had not earlier converted to Judaism(Acts 10:44-48), and chided Peter for dining with the Gentiles in the house of Cornelius, the Roman centurion(Gal.2:12,13). It may be pertinent at this juncture to remind us that there was no dust raised over a similar conversions amongst the Samaritans who were mongrel Jews(2 Kin.17:24-44), but rather Apostles Peter and John were dispatched to administer the Holy Spirit to them(Acts 8:14-17). Proselytism was an accepted means of conversion of a non-Jew to Judaism(Matt23:15). From the foregoing, it was evident that if a non-Jew wished to be a Jew, he had to convert to Judaism. Although he was not well accepted, it was evident that this practice of discrimination against the proselytes was contrary to divine injunction in the Law of Moses. If a Gentile who lived amongst Jews wanted to observe the Passover, he was welcome, but he must first be circumcised(Exod.12:48). When the children of Israel left the land of Egypt, the congregation was a mixed multitude. There were Egyptians as well as other sojourners in the land of Egypt who saw the wonders, and signs performed by the God of Israel who decided to cast their lot with the people of Israel. They were strangers alright, but they were free to worship the God of Israel alongside native born Israelites. It was for this reason of discrimination and segregation that Jesus chided the Pharisees who compassed land and sea to make proselytes, only to turn round and make twice a child of Hell than themselves(Matt.23:15).
We must remember that the Jewish eunuch so rendered, either from natural, accidental, intentional or deliberate orchidectomy was barred access into the congregation of Yahweh(Deut.23:1). One born outside wedlock was also denied access into the congregation of the Lord(Deut.23:2). So also was the Moabite and the ammonite because they did not meet the children of Israel with bread and water on the way when they came out of the land of Egypt(Deut.23:3-6). we conclude therefore that the word Gentile more appropriately captures the meaning of goy in the OT Jewish religious thought.
The Bible records that on the day of Pentecost, there were Jews from every nation under heaven in Jerusalem(Acts 2:5), some of then no doubt were proselytes to Judaism. Following Peter’s message, about three thousand souls were added to the number of the disciples(Acts 2:41). Is there evidence that they were all Palestinian and Diaspora Jews only? Of the Gentile converts to Judaism, were there none that believed on that day of Pentecost? Evidently some of them believed on that day, and were also filled with the Holy Spirit. Why was it that no one raised eyebrow about that? Why did it not raise a lot of furors? If these Gentile converts were regarded as non-Jews, why were the Jewish leaders of the protochurch in Jerusalem fussy with Peter over the conversion of the Gentiles in the house of Cornelius?(Acts 11:1-18; Gal.2:1-21). The bone of contention was not just that those men were of Gentile descent, but they were uncircumcised. The Gentile coverts to Judaism were circumcised just like the Jews as a sign of covenantal relationship with the God of Israel. When a Gentile converted to Judaism, he was required to be circumcised like his Jewish counterpart as a sign of covenantal relationship with Yahweh, the God of Israel. Naturally, the Jewish male infant undergoes the ceremony of “brit milah” on the 8th day from the day of birth according to God’s command to Abraham(Gen.17:9-14; Rom.4:11), which was later incorporated into the Law of Moses(Jon.7:22,23).
Gentile Proselytes To Judaism
Although Gentiles who showed interest in Judaism were categorized as inquirers, audientes, supplientes, genufletes etc, when a Gentiles advances from inquiries arising from curiosity to commitment to the God of Israel by submission to circumcision and observance of the Law of Moses, he was regarded as a true proselyte to Judaism, and therefore a Jew, even though he was not quite well accepted. This probably explains why no dusts were raised over the Gentile proselytes to Judaism who were in the number added to the protochurch on the day of Pentecost though the Jewish leaders of the Protochurch in Jerusalem were later to be fussy with Peter over his preaching of the Gospel to the Gentiles in the house of Cornelius. Cornelius was probably regarded as a righteous Gentile, i.e., a Gentile who showed interest in the God of Israel, and followed it up with good works especially towards Jews and the nation of Israel, but was not yet fully converted to Judaism by being circumcised and being fully observant.
Segments Of Proselyes
When Christianity began in Palestine, it was as a sect within Judaism. Paul was accused of been heritical to the point of blasphemy because he taught the Jews in Diaspora that circumcision and the observance of the Law of Moses was not necessary for salvation(Acts 21:21; cp Gal.5:6, 6:15), contrary to the teaching of the judaisers from Jerusalem. Jews who abandoned their commitment to Yahweh in the days of Antiochus sought to remove their jewishness by hiding the mark of circumcision(1 Macc.1:11-14). Paul’s Jewish convert to Christianity in the Diaspora had no such scruples. As far as the protochurch in Jerusalem was concerned, a true Gentile convert to Judaism who had proved his commitment to Yahweh by circumcision and strict adherence to the Law of Moses was Jewish, otherwise the fussy reaction of the leaders of the protochurch in Jerusalem to Peter’s incursion to the house of Cornelius with the Gospel was sensless and meaningless if the protochurch had earlier admitted to her fold Gentile converts to Christianity who had no prior conversion to Judaism; inasmuch as it was evident that some of the converts to Christianity on the day of Pentecost were proselytes to Judaism as contained in the phrase ” …. visitors from Rome ( both Jews and converts to Judaism ); ….”(Acts 2:10,11).
It was the teaching of the Judaisers in Antioch in Syria, which was contrary to that of Paul and Barnabas that gave rise to the Jerusalem Council and the first encirclicle from the Church leadership in Jerusalem to the Gentile Church in Antioch in Syria. Both Paul and Barnabas conveyed this good news to the other Gentile churches they founded. Paul encountered these Judaisers in various Gentile cities he ministered in the Roman Empire. It was these Judaisers and Judaists who informed the Jerusalem community against Paul(Acts 21:21). In order to please the elders of the church in Jerusalem, avoid an uproar, and prevent persecution against the Nosrim, Paul compromised his Faith in Jerusalem, a hypocritical act of which he had earlier accused Peter in Antioch(Gal.2:11-21). Paul was not afraid of being lynched or imprisoned on account of the gospel he passionately preached, nor did he lack the intellectual ability to defend his teachings; his choice was a misguided love of the brethren. The counsel of the elders in Jerusalem was ill-informed and led to compromises on both their part and that of Paul(Acts 21:17-26). It availed nothing in that Paul in spite of adherence to the counsel of the elders was subsequently arrested, molested, tried, and imprisoned(Acts 21:28).
The Ecclesia
However, with its trichotomous view of racial groups, the NT introduced a new dimension to the Jewish religious concept of identity, by the divine creation of a new international community of believers who have expressed faith in the soteriological and substitutionary works of Christ on the Cross of Calvary. Like the OT dichotmous view, the NT trichotomous view is also a broad categorical view which within the OT dichotomous view creates room for Jews and Gentiles in one international family of God whilst disregarding the petty religious discrimination and racial seggregation within Judaism in relation to the rest of mankind. This is only possible because of the new life in Christ Jesus. Therefore Paul commands believers to give no offence neither to the Jew, nor the Gentile, nor the church of God(1 Cor.10:32). The Church, the Ekklesia, a called out people, are called out from amongst Jews and Gentiles into Christ. So, the Church consists of any number of these two groups, who have expressed faith in the risen Saviour, Jesus The Christ, our Lord. The relationship between the three groups is represented in the diagrammatic schema of two circles. The intercept of the two circles constitutes the Church of God.
With regards to the Church, petty religious and ethnic discrimination was evident from the very beginning. For example, in the early church in Jerusalem, the Grecians complained against the Hebrews that their women were neglected in the daily distribution of provisions(Acts 6:1). The Grecians were Hellenized Jews. The Hebrews were native born Palestinian Jews. The grecians also felt that they were not well recognized as the other Jews. Besides, further attempts were made to coerce the Gentiles believers to submit to the Mosiac ritual of circumcision as a prerequisite to true conversion and salvation. Efforts to resolve this disturbing development led to the convening of the Jerusalem Council and the injunctions that follwed(Acts 15). Therefore, it was a self-evident fact that petty religious discrimination and racial segregation were rampant in early Christianity as in Judaism. It was therefore virtually impossible to devise a concept of categorization that could take care of the various groups. As is common in our day, nearly any social parameter, vocation, city of origin, language etc could constitute a means of categorization. This phenomenon was not altogether unprofitable; for some of these groups catered to the needs of their member more efficiently than the larger body of Christ would do.
With regards to divine retribution, the Bible clearly states in Rom.8:1, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit….” The believer in Christ Jesus will not be judged in the sense that he will not be sentenced and banished to Hell, being already justified by faith in Christ Jesus ( Eph.2:8,9 ). What will be tried or judged is the work of the believer(1 Cor.5:10). The Bema Seat judgment of the believer (1 Cor.3:11-17 )is one of two events that will take place in heaven after the Rapture of The Church during the 30-day Reclamation Period of the kingdom(Dan.12:11), the other being the marriage of the Lamb. It is the outcome of this judgment that will determine our roles as co-regents with Christ during the Millennium(Matt.14-30). There are other views of the location of the Bema in the sky, and on Earth, of which one would do well to take note of. However, the location of this event is not our concern in this reflection.
The Jew will face trial during the time of Jacob’s trouble which is the Great Tribulation, and the Trumpet Judgments(Jer.30:7; Matt.24:21). The unbranded and saved remnant of Israel will be exempt from the Bowl Judgments being hidden in Azal(Zech.14:5). There are some biblical scholars that argue that the Great Tribulation is strictly judgmental of Israel. Hence, the christian may not be involved, the Rapture having occurred earlier, except for the so called Tribulation saints. This view is pretribulational. It does not have the mandate of the Scriptures; it is not strictly an explicit biblical teaching, but rather an inference derived from a theological mold. There is no single verse of Scriptures that teaches rapture before tribulation. The assumption that the Great Tribulation is strictly a divine retribution against Israel, and therefore excludes Christians is blatantly unbiblical.
The Great Tribulation provides trial and purification for the Jew, Gentile, and the Church of God, the three divisions of humanity. The hour of temptation(Peirasmos) that shall try all those who dwell upon the Earth(Rev.3:10), which is the Great Tribulation is inclusive of all, and exempts no one, the Jew, the Gentile, and the Church of God. The faithful and uncompromising Christian exemplified by the Church of Philadelphia is not exempted from the Great Tribulation, but is given protection within its sphere, and then delivered totally out from within its sphere after its interruption by the celetial disturbances associated with the breaking of the 6th seal(Rev.6:12-14; Matt.24:29-30), prior to the breaking of the 7th seal which is the wrath of God. The compromising Christian, exemplified by the church of Thyatira is not offered divine protection during the Great Tribulation, and therefore faces the full brunt of the Great Tribulation by the antiChrist, but is also delivered from it after the cosmic disturbances interrupt the Great Tribulation. The 144,000 are not sealed till after the cosmic disturbances which portends the wrath of God is about to be poured out upon the living wicked earth-dwellers(Rev.6:15-17; 7:1-8). They have passed through the Great Tribulation before being sealed for protection from the wrath of God in the trumpets and the bowls.
In the interlude between the 6th seal and the breaking of the 7th seal, the Church is rapture and the 144,000 from the twelve tribes of Israel are sealed for protection by the appearance of the Son of Man in the heavens, the Shekinah. Therefore the interlude protects from the wrath of God by the rapture of the Church and the sealing of the 144,000. The remnant of Israel other than the 144,000 are further purged, purified and cleansed by the outpouring of the wrath of God in the trumpet judgments. Shortly before the sounding of the 7th trumpet, the unbranded remnant of Israel are saved, thus completing the spiritual kingdom of God(Rev.10:7). The bowl judgments target the antiChrist and his minions, all those who have the Mark of the Beast. This accounts for the survival of the Gentiles who do not have the Mark of the Beast after the battle of Armageddon, who will appear at the Sheep and Goat Judgment. The Sheep, those justified, will repopulate the Earth in the Millennium alongside the saved remnant of Israel.
The Prewrath Rapture view is acceptable because it understands that there is only one Second Coming of Christ, the episunagogue being an integral part of the Parousia, the first initial act being the cosmocelestial disturbances(Matt.24:29-31). As the Church is a bride to be joined to her husband and therefore must be purified, even so is Israel an estranged wife to be reconciled to her husband after her purification. At the Second Coming of the Messiah, every unbranded Jew shall be saved(Zech.10:10-12; Rom.11:25,26). This would come as a result of their recognition of the Jewish Messiah as the historic and Christian Jesus; ” they will call upon Him whom they have pierced.” In the three divisions of humanity in our reflection on ethnon, there is no room for Tribulation saints. The Pretribulationist are yet to offer any scriptural basis for the fate of these saints. Will there be second rapture or will they enter heaven or the millennium in their mortal bodies? The Church Age closes with the rapture of the Church. No one can be saved and become a part of the bride of Christ after the rapture.
In the Sheep and Goat Judgment in Matt.24:31-46, The Son of Man has come in His glory with all the holy angels. He sits upon the throne of His father, David, and all nations are gathered before Him. There are some that believe that the Sheep and Goat Judgment is an allegory of the wrath of God upon the heathen in the Day of the Lord. In structural symbolism, this is understood to be the same as the trumpet and bowl judgments of Revelation, which are contained within the 7th seal, and culminates in the final destruction and devastation of Babylon, and the war of Armageddon at which the armies of the nations are annihilated( Rev.8,9,16,17,18,19; Is 13:19-20). This view is at best tenuous and allegorical and therefore has not gained much traction and credence amongst biblical scholars.
Before the nations are judged in the Sheep and Goat Judgment, Satan must be incarcerated in the shaft of the abyss for a thousand years(Rev.20). So, there is really no need for chapter break between Rev. 19 & 20, insofar as the incarceration of Satan in the bottomless pit for a millennium is a direct consequence of Christ’s defeat of his human armies at Armageddon.
As we have pointed out earlier, the Greek word translated nations in KJV, is ethnon, which is the plural of ethnos, is best translated Gentiles. As previously mentioned, the word nations immediately invokes in our minds the modern socio-political concept of nation-states such as Egypt and Syria etc. But this is not what is in view. What is in view is the sun total of all non-Jews, peoples of all races other than Jews who have not received Jesus as their personal Lord and Saviour, but are not branded with the Mark of the allegiance to the antiMessiah(Rev.13:18).
Obviously God does judge blocks of peoples socio-politically referred to as nations such as Ghana, Nigeria, etc. This judgment is an on-going process as we can see from both remote and Contemporary events. The war of Armageddon and the destruction of political Babylon and the Babylonian harlot indicate the final eschatological and consummative annihilation of the antiChrist and antisemites from all nations which as we pointed out some biblical scholars believe to be allegorically portrayed in the Sheep and Goat Judgment of the Gentiles. In the Sheep and Goat Judgment, Ghanians who survive the war a of Armageddon who are not beast marked, are not brought together to be judged as Ghanians based on the iniquities of the nation of Ghana. Rather, antisemites and antiChristians from all nations who survive the war of Armageddon and are not beast marked are ultimately wiped out, leaving the Zionist and the pro-Christians to enter the Millennium and repopulate the renovated Earth. This is not to say that national boundaries may not be recognized by the government of Christ. The Earth will be totally renovated and reorganized and new boundaries may be created. No nations will be subjugated by others, and all nations shall be subject to the rule and reign of Christ.
The Bible makes it clear that God is providentially involved in the affairs of nations of the world. The Scriptures state unequivocally that God reigns in the affairs of men and of nations, and also determines the boundaries of nations(Deut.32:8). For example, in the scramble for Africa, Western European nations struggled to acquire colonies in Africa with the egoistic motive to procure cheap labour, and raw materials for the support of their domestic industries, but the invisible hand of God was in operation, behind the scene as it were, determining and setting the boundaries of the new nation-states of Africa in relation to the number of the children of Israel. The Sheep and Goat Judgment will be the judgment of all Gentiles involved with Israel and the believer in Jesus Christ during the Great Tribulation. These two groups of peoples, the Jews and the Christians are covenantally related to Jesus, the one according to the flesh, and the other according to the Spirit, and could be referred to as His brethren in a relativistic sense(Jon.20:17).
The criterion for their condemnation or justification is their relative treatment of Christ’s brethren. Admittedly, His brethren would be Jews waiting for the coming of the Messiah, and believers in Jesus waiting for the Second Coming of Christ who repudiate the authority of the antiChrist(Rev.12:17). Interpretatively, the context would be the eschatological 70th Week of Daniel. Granted, the text has a wider application. In the middle eastern culture, hospitality to the stranger is associated with the recognition of whoever the stranger represents(Gen.24; Matt.10:46; Mk.9:41). Consequently, any hospitality shown to the Jew or Christain in dire need at any time whatsoever, is indirectly, and in an ultimate sense shown to Christ, and would invariably and inevitably receive a commensurate reward. Evidently, this would receive an added impetus in the context of the 70th Week of Daniel.
What is the reconstruction of the biblically accurate sequence of events of the end times to one who has THE MARK OF THE BEAST? It is like medicine after death. A physician who administers the most potent medicine after the death of his patient is a physician of NO value. Those of us Prewrathers who teach those who are covid vaccinated the PreWrath Rapture view are physicians of no value.
We must first of all warn our audience about the dangers of the C19 vaccines, then we can teach them the correct sequence of events of the end times after they have resolved not to ever take any of the C19 vaccines nor the RT-PCR tests. When we do the opposite, we put the cart before the horse. We go no where. We must chase away the fox first, then the hen can be warned against wandering in the bush.If we don’t chase away the fox first before warning the hen against wandering in the bush, the hen would be dead.
“Vaccine passports are digital identity schemes that can expand to include credit history & online behavior:” WEF report.
This is from the horse’s mouth. It is a Global DIGITAL IDENTITY SCHEME. It can EXPAND to include CREDIT HISTORY and ONLINE BEHAVIOR. It is not a VACCINE. It is THE MARK OF THE BEAST. It is a DOUBLE EDGED SWORD, a WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION, a GLOBAL DEPOPULATION AGENDA. The LOGO of the WEF is 666 hidden in plain sight.They are killing two birds with one stone: population reduction and global 🆔 scheme.
The Logo Of The WEF With 666 Hidden In plain Sight
This people couldn’t be clearer. Every one on Earth either gets it or starves to death. Bill Gates has said everyone must get it. That is the agenda of the WEF. Klaus Schwab said: “until everyone is covid vaccinated, no one is safe.” Everyone must have a C19 vaccine digital ID that will be linked to CBDC. Microsoft has patented a cryptocurrency with bodily activities. The patent number is WO2020060606. Obviously THE MARK OF THE BEAST hidden in plain sight. The covid plandemic was cooked up by the global elites and the WEF to herd the whole of humanity into being digitally 🆔ed. According to Noah Yuval Harari, the covid pandemic is what convinced the world to accept digital 🆔. It is an ARTIFICIAL HEALTH THREAT manufactured by the global elites to get the masses of humanity to surrender their free will to be controlled by the global elites. It is medical tyranny.According to Kristalina Georgieva of Romania, the head of the IMF, there is no pandemic, it is all about Digital 🆔.How could one hear things like these from those involved the scheme and still remain skeptical or dismiss C19 as a pandemic and the covid bioweapon and Digital 🆔 scheme as a as a vaccine? This medical tyranny will lead to One World Totalitarian Government.It is an ARTIFICIAL THREAT manufactured by the global elites to get the masses of humanity to surrender their free will to be controlled by the global elites.
Oh! You see, the WEF and His Majesty’s Government are coöperating. The Magogites are ruling the world through the WEF and HM Government is their GRAND patron. Bear in mind that the Anglus and the Saxons are Magogites who migrated to the British Isles from Lower Saxony in Bavaria. Magog is the first son of Japheth the elder(Gen.10:2), and has the right of primogeniture which amongst other things includes leadership, priesthood and double inherititance. Global leadership shifted from Ham to Shem and then Japheth with whom it rests till the end of times.
The Shift Of Global Power From Ham To Shem And Then Japheth
The CBDC proposed by HM Government will be implemented worldwide through the Central Banks of nations. The WEF has told us that C19 vaccine passports are DIGITAL IDENTITY SCHEMES that can be expanded to include CREDIT HISTORY and ONLINE BEHAVIOR. And that includes your CARBON FOOTPRINT as well.
Why are they ignoring the Social Security Number(SSN) which has existed for nearly a century in Europe and US and Canada(North America) and the nascent NIN in Nigeria, and talking about expanding the C19 vaccine passport to include credit history and online behavior? C19 vaccines have killed millions and permanently injured millions more. It dovetails perfectly into their global agenda of world depopulation and control through digital 🆔.
The Church And The Mark Of The Beast
Please, don’t get me wrong. I do not belittle the Mystical Body Of Christ, the invisible Church, the Body Of All True Believers In Christ. I love them. Am concerned about them. They are my brethren in Christ. Am part and parcel of it. From the pulpit to the pew, all in the Church aren’t true believers. And we seldom know who is who considering the fact that the weeds and the tires are growing together(Matt.13:30).
I think there is urgent need to teach the Body Of Christ, THE EVOLUTION OF The Mark Of The Beast. Believers ought to know how it will evolve in order to follow the evolution and spot the Mark and avoid it altogether at all costs. The danger is that once the root is implanted under the skin, all that follows to the REAL McCOY is online upgrade. I didn’t invent that. The WEF said so in their report quoted above. According to Yuval Noah Harari, the next in human evolution is getting under the skin. It has already begun with C19. Man is now a hackable animal. Free will is over.
But when it comes to informing the saints of the evolution of the Mark Of The Beast, I find the visible Church and her leadership and teachers mostly practically useless. They are not telling us the truth. They don’t seem to know the TRUTH. So, they CANNOT teach nor tell us the truth. This is a very serious matter. Of what use is the most potent medicine after death? The best physician and the dick surgeon are powerless, masterly inactivated once the patient is dead. As the Igbos say, once the baby dies the maid or nanny is jobless and must be relieved of her duty. She goes home.
Let me state it clearly, no mincing of words, in bald language and with no holds barred: once one has been branded with the Mark Of The Beast, the most accurate biblical construct of PreWrath eschatology or the sequence of events of the End Times is of no consequence. They have already complied with the Mark Of The Beast. It is a matter of automatic upgrade. It is all or none law. Every good thing the governments offer is exclusively for the vaccinated. “The unvaccinated are not part of our society,” says Mario Draghi, the former Italian prime minister. It is a matter of time, these things will be made clear to everyone.
Covid Vaccine Digital ID Is Under The Skin Already
Digital 🆔 is already here with us: it is the covid vaccines. And don’t tell me, we are all intelligent beings, we can understand. We do not need to belabour the issue. How many times did we hear the Gospel before it made sense to us, before we believed? There are very few of us who heard the gospel once and believed. We eat practically the same foods everyday in order to remain nourished and healthy. We teach our children and remind them again and again about the same things until they sink in. It is exactly the same thing when it comes to spiritual food. If we don’t review our subjects very often, we forget due to memory decay. Am alarmed at how easily I forget certain things if I don’t review them often. Therefore, I formed the habit of reviewing certain things every day. There are chapters of the Bible I read everyday without let.
The Church is under Satanic Premedication and the anaesthesia will be be administered very soon. As Dr. Jaiye has said, the pastors have put their congregations under sleeping pills. That premise is correct, though I totally disagree with his inference that the NIN will evolve into the Mark Of The Beast. What happens to C19 vaccine QR Code already implanted under the skin of the vaccinated? Truth is parallel whether spoken at the shrine of Amadioha, Ogun, Sango, the Buddhist Temple, Hindu temple, the synagogue, Church etc. When we study the cultures and customs and traditions of the Middle East, we see some of the same principles and practices as are annunciated in the Jewish Bible among other ethnic groups though they were idol worshippers. It tells us that TRUTH is parallel. For example, The Code of Hammurabi which antedates The Mosaic Law of the Old Testament contains the same legal principles as are annunciated in the Mosaic Law. NIN is national, but the Covid vaccine digital scheme is international. It supersedes NIN.
Food As A Bargaining Chip
Food will be used as a bargaining chip. If one doesn’t have The Mark Of The Beast, one does not buy and sell.
“and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.”(Rev.13:17 KJV).
If food production is totally industrialized, the food manufacturers will control the supply. Look at what is happening in the Netherlands. The government wants to chase the farmers out of their lands in the guise of providing accommodation for new immigrants. It wants to take over food production and replace natural seeds with GMOs. In the US, the Biden Administration pays farmers to destroy their crops in order to create artificial food scarcity. So, there will be attempts to concentrate the food industry in the hands of the cronies of the antiMessiah. If one does not buy and sell, one does not eat. If one does not eat, one dies. So, food is a means of control of the masses. Bill Gates, the vaccine freak and eugenicist is the largest land owner in the US. Does that ring a bell?
Secondly, the food from the industry will be GMOs. By persistently eating GMOs, the eater is hybridized. Whether through GMOs, vaccines, climate change, chemical sprays and chemtrails, there is a total war on humanity being waged by the globalists. The goal is to kill off 7.5 billion people, the excess human beings(Noah Yuval Harari), the useless eaters(Dr. Lima Lebow), and the remaining 500 million will be humanoid zombies who will man robots that farm the land for the global elites. One is either destroyed or disqualified by hybridization.
Make no mistake about it. The vaccinated are infertile and fast becoming imbeciles too with 20 points drop in IQ. The PCR test apart from indirectly vaccinating the recipient also lobotomizes him or her. Chemical(biochemical and hormonal) Frontal Lobe ablation renders the C19 vaccine recipient an imbecile for life. Anatomically it is there and connected to the rest of the brain, but it is functionally useless. The depopulation agenda of the WEF is on track. They want to collapse world economy, cause inflation and food scarcity. The masses are more pliable when they are hungry. Whoever controls the food will control the people says Henry Kissinger. But they forget also that a hungry man is an angry man. And that the most unexpected can be expected from a humiliated people(French philosopher, Mark Ribald).
When will The Mark Of The Beast be revealed? At the midpoint of the 70th week of Daniel no doubt. But it will be in use long before that time. I have been shouting it for the past decade now. It is here now. It is vaccine digital 🆔. He that will hear, let him hear.
Human Health And The Mark Of The Beast
Of late two young Nigerians slumped and died. This sort of thing was extremely rare before the advent of covid vaccines. And some want us to sweep it under the rug and not say a word about it. Some have called for the arrest of Professor Noah Yuval Harari. On the contrary, I do NOT think he should be arrested. Who is going to arrest him anyway? Are they not the ones who set him up? He is telling us the truth with no holds barred unlike the hypocrites in the Church – GOs, bishops, Pentecostal archbishops and pastors – who urge us to get the C19 vaccines, who say fornication is damning, a mortal sin, a sin unto death, unpardonable, but altering human DNA is a venial sin and pardonable. It is on our body they say. It does not affect our spirit and soul. They groan and moan under the weight of NIN but keep mute about the C19 vaccines which alter human DNA and have killed millions and maimed others and rendered them infertile and subhuman. Hypocrites, blind guides of the blind who strain at a gnat but swallow a camel(Matt.23:24). They will both fall into a pit. They are the ones that should be called out.
If you think the covid vaccines are over, you have another thing coming. The synthetic mRNA is being reengineered for all vaccines and cancers, and will become the mainstay of medical treatment. Time is coming when we shall be compelled to take these vaccines or get out of the society. We shall hide in the bush to escape forced vaccinations. At that time, if you are 50 years old and above, and sick, if you ever enter the hospital, both general or private, you wouldn’t get out. You would be euthanized unless you are remarkably rich and contribute immensely to the global agenda or play what is deemed a significant and vital role in the system.
Those of us who teach eschatology from the PreWrath Rapture perspectives MUST emphasize this MOST important point or our work is USELESS. What is PreWrath eschatology to one who already has the MARK OF THE BEAST? Zoach!
Technology And The Mark Of The Beast
It is dangerous to read only the Bible. Some people boast about that. When you read George Orwell’s Animal Farm and 1984, do they not throw some light on the End Times Scenario? When you read only the Scroll Of Revelation, you may end up thinking the Mark Of The Beast is just like a tribal mark or a number tattooed on the hand or forehead. No, it is far more than that. It is AI. It is a quantum computer operating system that reprogrammes one into a humanoid zombie. It connects one to the Internet Of Body and things. It is alien nanotechnology. It is self-assembling nanoscale technical device injected under the skin. It is a depopulation agenda. It is transhumanism via gene therapy. It is human-machine interface. It is human-demon interface. It is human-demon-machine interface. Human beings will interface with machines and demons. One is reduced to a patented electronic device. One becomes hackable and programmable. One is visible on Bluetooth, has a QR Code and Mac Address and IP Address.
It alters one’s genetics. One is demonized and externally manipulated. One loses free will, and becomes a humanoid zombie. One is monitored 24/7. One loses freedom. One can be programmed to behave in certain way, commit crimes, say certain things and even die in a particular way – say heart attack, thrombosis, degenerative brain disease, cancers, blood dyscrasias or simply drop dead etc.
Man Reduced To Numbers
They want you to become a number with a microchip under your skin so you can be a hackable animal. Human beings have been given numbers from time immemorial. I have given several examples in the past. But let me remind us of the case of the Jews as Concentration Camp inmates. They were given numbers before they were exterminated. It is a process of dehumanization.It salved the conscience of the Nazis that they were dealing with mere numbers and not persons.It is a psychological process of desensitizing the murderers of human sympathy and empathy.
When it comes to the Mark Of The Beast, you are not just given a number but a number with a microchip under your skin and much more that alters your humanity, personality, and dignity. The Mark Of The Beast is not just a mark or a number, it is alien nanotechnology and metamaterials.There are lots about it that meet the eye.There are lots about it that we do not yet know let alone understand.
Let no one deceive you(Matt.24:4; Eph.5:6; 2 Thess.2:3; 2 Tim.3:13; 1 Jon.3:7). If a subject is mentioned once in the Bible, it is not very important, but if it is repeated several times, it is VERY important.
NIN/SSN: A Precursor?
NIN does NOT change your genetic code. NIN does NOT give you blood clots. NIN does not cause menstrual irregularities and disregulation. NIN does NOT cause miscarriages or render fertile women and men infertile. NIN does NOT cause Guilliane Barre syndrome nor degenerative brain diseases. NIN does NOT cause cerebral aneurism nor blood clots in the brain. NIN has not killed any athletes nor does it cause them to keel over. NIN does NOT cause myocarditis in children and young men and women. NIN does NOT cause Sudden Adult Death Syndrome nor Multiple-organ Inflammatry Syndrome(MIS) in both children and adults. NIN has NOT caused anyone to fall down suddenly and die. NIN does NOT make you visible on Bluetooth. NIN does NOT give you a QR Code on your person.
I don’t know anyone who has put his NIN on a microchip(RFID), implanted it in his forearm or hand and is using it to buy and sell on the net as some in Sweden are doing with the C19 vaccines QR Codes. NIN is NOT universal, transnational nor mandatory. NIN is national. Your NIN identifies you as a Nigerian as much as the Social Security Number(SSN) identifies an American as a US citizen. In Europe and America SSN has been in use for over a hundred years. It has not metamorphosed into the Mark Of The Beast, nor will NIN. NIN is not on your person. It is external. It is time we stop leaving the substance to pursue the shadow. It is time we stop majoring in the minor.
Numbers have been used to identify people from time immemorial. In class in the primary schools we were given numbers in the class registers. When your number is called out by your teacher during roll call you answered present. When we write exams, we are given numbers. When I registered in Ife University in 1979, I was given a number 791177 which appeared on my 🆔 card. No other student will ever get that number in the history of the university. Giving people numbers is not new at all. I still remember the number I was given to write common entrance into Secondary school in 1972, OW/3245. Military personnel, soldiers and police officers are given numbers which identify them. But these are not The Mark Of The Beast.
Everyone on our WhatsApp platform has NIN. Anyone who has a phone # registered in his or her name has NIN whether he or she knows it or not. If NIN is The Mark Of The Beast, then we all have it. We might as well close this platform and go home. Registering for NIN is not the first time our biometrics like finger print and facial recognition were captured. Long before the introduction of NIN, our finger prints and facial ID were captured when we registered our phone #s, got our drivers license or international passport.
Mainstream Media
Over 1000 covid vaxxed athletes have dropped dead, the MSM have never once drawn our attention to it. If at all they say anything about it, they blame it on everything else other than the covid vaccines. There are about 32 speculations about the causes of adult sudden death syndrome including social media hatred, running too fast for athletes, and viewing television for hours, playing video games for hours or days nonstop, none of which is new. All over the world, even here in Nigeria, some who have taken the C19 vaccines have dropped dead suddenly, the MSM have never said anything about it. The leading cause of death in US and Uk is now Sudden Adult death Syndrome.
Vaccinated women have had miscarriages, the MSM have never said a word about it. Gynaecologists and Urologists who run fertility clinics have being reporting increases in female and male infertility, after the introduction of COVID-19 vaccines, the MSM have been deaf and mute about it. All over the world, statistics have reported excess deaths since the introduction of the Covid-19 vaccines, the MSM have been silent about it. Morticians, undertakers, and insurance companies have reported excess deaths, strange blood clots, following the introduction of Covid-19 vaccines, but the MSM has ignored it. It does not take an angelic visitation to see where their allegiance is. They are the stooges of the WEF and His Majesty’s Government.Thy are partners in crime with the WEF, the British Crown, the government of nations, Big Pharma and medical establishments and Health Institutions.They are complicit in the genociding of humanity.
The world is on a collision course with its Maker. Evil men will wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived even in the Church(2 Tim.3:13). Deception is the other of the day.
Take Covid for instance. Scientists are lying. Governments are lying. Pastors are lying, NGOs are lying. Big Pharma are lying. Medical doctors and medical associations are lying. MSM are lying. How on Earth will the world get better when it filled with liars, cheats and their lies. In Nigeria, soldiers and policemen frame young men up and kill them if they refuse to be exhorted. Young men in Sagamu don’t want to work, but they love luxury and the good life. So, they are busy stealing from the accounts of the masses every day with the collusion of some bank workers.
The Synthetic Messenger RNA
The Synthetic Messenger RNA is not science but lies. It is genetic poison. The SYNTHETIC mRNA technology is a quantum computer operating system intended to alter human genetic makeup, kill off a substantial portion of the human population, the useless eaters, the vulnerable and turn the survivors into humanoid zombies. Believers and indeed any person who fears God should have nothing to do with synthetic mRNA technology. Come not near it while you are in possession of your senses. I have been shouting it from the get go that the covid vaccines are no vaccines at all but viral gene based therapy. I had no scientific evidence then but just divine intuition and premonition. Now evidence abound.
Stefan Oelrich, the CEO of Merck in a secret meeting of Big Pharma executives(I have posted this video here several times) said the covid vaccines are gene therapy not vaccines. That if they announced them as gene therapy, 95% of the world population would not receive them. They had to call them vaccines . This is deceitful.
Psychological Brainwashing
Tell a big lie. Repeat it often, and people will start believing it. Joseph Geobells, the NAZI chief propagandist employed this psychological method which he learned from his Master, the Fuhrer himself, Adolf Hitler to deceive and to hypnotize the German populace, the most educated at that time in the whole wide world. Do you know that psychologists have found out it is easier to decieve and brainwash an intelligent and educated people than a village palm wine tapper or a stark illiterate? The German society in the 1930s and ‘40s was a prime example. They were brainwashed to hate Jews. The same is happening today. Antisemitism is on the rise in Europe and America, and we are more educated than ever. Humanity is being brainwashed, hypnotized and reprogrammed and the WEF is at the Centre of it. How many village farmers and palm wine tappers are CIA and Mossad agents? None. They are usually educated people: professors, university dons, scientists, government officials, CEOsof Big Pharma, Big Techs etc. often times, they are recruited without their knowledge of it. When they realize it and want to opt out, they are threatened and cowered into submission or held down by mouthwatering and lucrative offers.
Psychologists have also found out, it is easier to hypnotize the masses of humanity than an individual(Professor Matthias Desmet). Find something that makes the masses afraid and neurotic, usually a health scare. Besides, there are campaigns of intimidation and social engineering to bully the human populace to submission. Scientists who cry foul are silenced by threats of loss of job and grants for research, aborted carreers, and even death threats. Hundreds have disappeared into thin air, vaporized, or died under mysterious circumstances which are usually labeled natural deaths or suicides.
Covid Vaccine-Induced Maladies
Now evidence abound. 25% increase in cardiac emergencies amongst vaccinated children, and young adults. Over 1000 athletes have fallen down in the field of play and died. 80% of vaccinated mothers in the first trimester of pregnancy suffer miscarriages. Stillbirths, death-in-utero, abnormal babies with black eyes – so called COVID BABIES OR PANDEMIC BABIES – who die within 2-3 weeks of birth are on the increase. Thromboembolic phenomena, blood clots so thick they cannot be dissolved by the usual fibrinolytic agents, stage 4/5 cancers appearing within weeks of vaccination, prion(neurodegenerative) diseases even in the young, blood clots in the brain, massive cerebral aneurisms(aneurisms are rare except in combat life), autoimmune diseases, HIV+ tests etc. These are unheard of in medical history.
The list is endless. Pfizer’s own documents has 9 pages of adverse reactions and effects and show that over 90,000 people died within 2 weeks of the commencement of covid vaccinations. According to Prof Roger Hodkinson, Canada’s leading pathologist, the covid vaccines have killed 20 million people worldwide and injured 2.2 billion others. Despite these mountains of evidence, some Christians who suffer from mass psychosis and cognitive dissonance want us to go on receiving these vaccines for another 20-30 years in order to conduct cohort studies. How many people will be left alive or remain normal by then? They themselves would even be dead and gone, and wouldn’t be available for the study. Or else turned into lobotomized humanoid zombies who will not question anything.
Please NEVER believe whatever anyone says just because he is educated, a self-acclaimed scientist like Anthony Fauci who says any attack on his person is an attack on science, a government official, a pastor, a GO, a Bishop or self-acclaimed man of God. Search out the TRUTH for yourself. Be a Berean(Act.17:11). A jingoistic cowboy pastor ceremoniously took the vaccine in sports dress, and opined, “don’t follow the conspiracy theorists. Take the vaccine.”
That the vaccine gets the Big Brother under your skin is no longer a conspiracy theory. It is now a conspiracy fact. If you think otherwise, please consult Noah Yuval Harari, the intellectual and philosophical patron of the WEF. On the day of judgment, you will stand alone to give account of yourself to God. Mr “Alagbaja” told me to do it will not be acceptable when tendered in evidence. Every man must give account of himself to God(Rom.14:12).And for the health officials who are jabbing people on the streets, the excuse that you are simply obeying orders and performing your duty as a health official or professional would not be tenable.
AnthonyFauci is no scientist but a REPTILIAN who serves his master the Devil and whose duty it is to populate Hell and render the remainder of humanity utterly useless humanoids; so also is Bill Gates. I say this before God the Father, before my Lord and Saviour Jesus The Christ and the Holy Spirit bears me witnesses with my own spirit that it is so.
Every day that passes by, more evidence are revealed. But the narcissistic, psychotic and Machiavellian sociopaths amongst believers will NEVER see it. So, we write not to warn them but as an evidence of their just recompence. And that the faithful may be strengthened in their resolve and the simple may learn and tremble before God who works wonders and mysteries His will to perform.
Prewrath Eschatology
Satan always has his antidote to every biblically accurate doctrine. Suffering and persecution are the lot of the saints, but for those who don’t want to suffer, it is the Pretrib Rapture view. God loves you so much He will NOT suffer you to meet the antiChrist. You will be secretly spirited away on the wings of the eagle out of the planet Earth before the antiChrist hangs out his shingles.
Pretrib is a FALSE doctrine. In no time, it will be obvious to everyone who holds it dear as true biblical teaching when the antiChrist brokers a 7-year peace pact between Israel and 7 of its Arab and Islamic neighbors and the saints are still much here.
Am also convinced beyond reasonable doubt that the Prewrath Rapture view is the most biblically accurate of all Rapture views. In the chronology of Rapture views, it is the latest, and yet the oldest. It is the oldest in that it was exactly what the Apostles of the Lamb and Church Fathers taught. It is the latest in that it is the last to be annunciated and given a theological LABEL. It is contradicted as it were by the other four rapture views – Pretrib, Midtrib, Posttrib, and the Partial Rapture Theory(which I consider to be utter eschatological NONSENSE).
There is a more potent satanic antidote to the biblically accurate rapture view. The first is that majority of those who teach this including the two ministries whose founders originated it, The Sign Ministries(Robert Van Kampen of blessed memory)and Zion’s Hope Inc(Marvin J. Rosenthal who passed into glory earlier this year) DO NOT teach on the EVOLUTION OF THE MARK OF THE BEAST. They are totally silent about it. They say nothing about the C19 Plandemic and it’s vaccines. If they ever mention covid in passing, it is the hardship the lockdowns and mandates engendered and brought upon humanity.
The two Prewrathers who have the bravado to say something about it, i.e., Joel Richardson and Nelson Walters dismiss it offhand as having NOTHING to do with THE MARK OF THE BEAST. They make bold to state that UNTIL the midpoint of the 70th week of Daniel, and the debut of the antiChrist at the rebuilt Jewish Temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem, The Mark Of The Beast CANNOT be implemented. The Scriptures DO NOT say so. (We go by what the Scriptures say as much as by what they do NOT say). This is a very DANGEROUS PRECEDENT in that The Mark Of The Beast is SCIENTIFIC. Science by its very nature which is the investigation of knowledge is not static nor stationary but dynamic and EVOLUTIONARY. It is always being improved upon. It can and will be UPGRADED. We must also bear in mind that the official narrative about C19 and its vaccines have proven false in every case. And that lies and deceptions are the order of the day.
Digital Slavery
Prewrathers and and indeed all believers must avoid microchipping in all its forms and ramifications. We must avoid DIGITAL SLAVERY at all costs which is where the world is headed. It has already come to FULL SWING and ORBE in China as matter of governmental decree. The people of Scandinavia have already embraced it as a exciting and useful scientific development even without persuasion by those in authority. Nearly all transactions in Sweden are cashless using microchips and C19 vaccines QR Codes in RFIDs in the ARM OR HAND or BOTH which are meronyms OR SYNECDOCHES for the WHOLE PERSON.
By MANDATES, QR Codes are being surreptitiously implanted in people Worldwide in the guise of Covid vaccines and RT-PCR tests. This practice renders our PreWrath Rapture eschatology redundant if we embrace it. It is like the most potent medicine administered by the most skilled physician or dick surgeon after DEATH.
While we ravel in our knowledge and bask in the euphoria of touting the PreWrath Rapture Eschatology as being the most biblically accurate view of eschatology which it is, we MUST NOT fiddle with the covid vaccines, PCR tests, fool around with microchips and vaccine digital 🆔s. They are slippery creek banks.
PreWrath Rapture eschatology is NOT an end in itself. It is a means to an end. The END is we must NOT take THE MARK OF THE BEAST: we MUST be rapturable and indeed be raptured; and we MUST enter Heaven.
As always, the choice is the individual’s. Man is a free moral agent. We make our choice to remain free or relinquish our freedom to the Global Elites, the forerunners, precursors, FORESHADOWS and heralds of THE antiMessiah.
PCR Test
A brother suggested that those who have The Mark of the Beast on their foreheads are double amputees and I agreed with that. It sounded reasonable. Now l know that that’s not true. In a video at the airport where passengers are scanned by UV scanners, those who glow on their foreheads are not double amputees. They are those who had the RT-PCR test. The buds used to swab the nose are NOT made of cotton but graphene oxide fibers laced with Luciferase and dipped in ethylene oxide which is a known carcinogen(cancer agent). In the video which I cannot post here, UV light was shined on these swabs and they glowed, so also the vaccines in the vials.
There are swabs made of cotton, not graphene oxide fibers, not laced with the enzyme luciferase and not dipped in ethylene oxide. The original swabs for PCR test are made in China. What has helped some of us who has had the PCR test in Nigeria is that the local swabs are not made with graphene oxide fibers and are not laced with luciferase nor dipped in ethylene oxide. The same is true of some of the PCR test swabs made in India. Those who are lucky to be swabbed with these CANNOT exhibit phosphorescence under UV light. They are the ones who are quick to say we are spreading covid vaccine misinformation and disinformation. The wicked and dubious perpetrators love it that way because it further advances their cause.
Those swabbed with this kind of swab do not exhibit the glow phenomenon under UV light. These things are easily verifiable. There are UV light touches. You see them in use in the video. The buds of the swabs appear like ordinary cotton fibers to unaided eye, but when examined under the microscope, they are hollow and tubular. Under UV light scanner, they glow. When stuck into the nose during PCR test, some of these graphene oxide fibers pass through the tiny holes in the cribriform plate of the ethmoid bone unto the forehead where they exhibit phosphorescence under UV light.
Dr. Carrie Madej said they are indirectly vaccinating people through the PCR test. That is exactly true. That is why some people have THE MARK OF THE BEAST on their foreheads. It is NOT because they are double amputees. The forehead is made up of the frontal bone and a thin muscle called the frontalis. It is not the proper sight for injections even in a double amputee.
From the heart, the blood flows upward to the head. That’s why the graphene oxide in the nose lodges in the forehead. The blood flows downwards from the shoulder to the fingers. That is why those who are vaccinated exhibit the phosphorescence at the sight of injection in the arm(deltoid), forearm or hand. This could be left or right hand depending on where they are injected. We know from the Scriptures that the Mark Of The Beast could be on the right or left hand or forehead.
“And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.”(Rev.13:15, 17-18 KJV).
“And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.”(Rev.14:9-12 KJV).
“And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.” (Revelation 20:4 KJV).
The authorities have their closed circuits TVs under UV light at the airport or any port of entry. The passengers are viewed as they file through. They don’t really know what is going on. Those who don’t glow are intercepted. Some of them have genuine C19 vaccine QR Code cards. They got these genuine QR Codes but are not vaccinated. They bribed their way, but they wouldn’t get far before they are discovered. They won’t be allowed entry nor departure unless they are vaccinated. They are in a dilemma.
So it is better not to travel till all Covid restrictions are removed. But the bad news is that they aren’t going to remove them. It is THE MARK OF THE BEAST. It is here to stay. It could be more or less enforced depending on whom is in power in a particular nation, state or area. In Jigawa State, Nigeria, youth corpers are mandated to take the vaccine, and some of them have left the service because of that. It is the antiChrist himself that will make it mandatory worldwide and will enforce it. Don’t wait until that day to know what it is. Tomorrow may be too little too late.
Biden announced on 18th September, 2022 the Covid pandemic is over, but unless you are a US citizen, you cannot get into the US except you are fully vaccinated. Besides, the Biden Administration has extended Covid lockdowns and measures till April 2023. Why?Even if they remove covid vaccine mandates, they have gone and re-engineered all vaccines with the mRNA technology.Whatever vaccine one gets now, one is digitally 🆔ed. Prof Michael Yeadon has been warning about it. Who has ears to hear with, let him hear. Besides, Klaus Schwab addressing the B20 summit in Bali, Indonesia said that covid vaccines from all G20 countries will be equally acceptable and that everyone must be fully vaccinated or PCR tested. Why? Is covid a threat to anyone? No. It is in pursuance of their global agenda of getting everyone on the globe digitally 🆔ed preparatory to the introduction of CBDC for the cashless system of the antiChrist: and killing off the vulnerable to reduce the world population to the barest minimum.
Dr. Christiane Northrop, a well known anticovid vaccine crusader said she and her group were transiting through an airport in the US and were asked to show their Covid vaccine passports. She told them plainly they were not vaccinated and wouldn’t get vaccinated. It is their right as citizens. But there were some in their group who said they were vaccinated and whiped out their Covid vaccine QR CODE certificates. The airport authorities told them they were not vaccinated even though their QR CODES were genuine. Indeed they had obtained genuine Covid vaccine QR CODES but they were not vaccinated. It is not everyone that says he or she is vaccinated that is vaccinated.
The Covid vaccine certificates have been bought and sold and are being bought and sold even till today. Some just received placebo – normal saline or water for injection. And others NOTHING at all. The vaccine manufacturers know what they are doing. Even in the same batch, some vials contain ordinary water for injection and some normal saline. Some vials contain various percentages of graphene oxide. They don’t want all the recipients to drop dead at once. That would be too alarming and shouting.
Those who received placebo are their advocates that the vaccines are safe. In Britain as well as in the US, there are excess deaths since the introduction of the covid vaccines and people are keeling over and athletes are dropping dead in the fields of play. People are dying in there sleep. One thing common to them all is that they are all vaccinated with the covid jabs. The world’s most renowned cardiologist, Dr. Peter McCullough has attributed this phenomenon to injury to the myocardium by the synthetic mRNA vaccines induced spike proteins and the release of cathecholamines on waking from sleep or under stress which cause arrhythmias and sudden death. It is for the same reason that people are keeling over in the streets. Some vaccinated soldiers have died in their sleep in their camps. The Pentagon has now suspended mandatory covid vaccination for US servicemen. What about those who were dismissed from the military because of their refusal to be covid vaxxed? Besides, there other vaccines mandated for servicemen: they have all been re-engineered with the same mRNA technology in the covid vaccines. Either way, there is no escape.
Dr. Northrop suspected they had an instrument through which they are able to know who is vaccinated and who is s not. And she was right.There are UV light TV monitors, body scanners and touches. In the future, robots, humanoid or otherwise would be deployed to roam the streets to identify those who aren’t vaccinated.
Church And Humanity
Humanity is duped and the Church is fiddling. We must warn humanity. We must warn the brethren. If all one could do is tell people not to take the PCR test and the Covid vaccines, one would be a hero in Heaven. I would rather spend a few minutes to tell someone to believe in Jesus and not take the vaccine than to spend hours trying to teach him the correct sequence of events of the end times. I spent seven years teaching eschatology in this town, I wonder how much of the details my audience remember. In fact some of them are Covid vaxxed already and have had the PCR test too. In Revelation 14, the three angelic announcements – which are the everlasting Gospel – are: worship God: Babylon, the false religion of the antiChrist is fallen; and don’t take the mark of the beast(6-11). In time of emergency, you don’t have time for elaborate teachings and doctrines. Are they important? Sure. But now, time is of essence, and certain urgent and most important pieces of information must be given primacy.
A friend of mine who is an evangelist just announced to me he has just concluded a 60-day crusade, but he and his entire family are covid vaccinated. Another friend of mine, a pastor told me he and his family and entire congregation are covid vaxxed. Blind leaders of the blind. They will both fall into the pit. Another minister who preaches on Holiness held a meeting in Abuja and participants who came from abroad had to be vaxxed to come into the country. What a parody of Holiness! How can you be preaching Holiness and believers have to get The Mark Of The Beast to attend your meeting? Is that Holiness? What a travesty of Holiness. Another minister whom I respect told me to stop sending him any of my posts on the dangers of Covid vaccines. He says he is not a medical doctor, and wants to concentrate on his calling: he has so much to read. But sadly he is undecided on Covid vaccines, and some of his congregants are already Covid vaxxed with his tacit approval. Yeah, a man of God must study to show oneself approved unto God(2 Tim.2:5). But of what use is the shepherd’s study when his sheep are in Hell? What is biblical scholarship to a man whose soul is in Hell?
Another minster told me he is not a medical doctor and wants to devote his entire life to to his calling: he has so much to study and learn. Good decision no doubt. But meanwhile some of congregants have also taken the Covid vaccines and are chipped already. Has he forgotten that God’s people are destroyed due to lack of knowledge(Hos.4:6). That a priest who lacks the relevant knowledge is ineffective. That he would not be excused in Heaven regarding his ignorance about covid and its vaccines simply because he is not a medical doctor. He should read the Talmud. The rabbis discussed practically everything on Earth that is relevant to human existence.
Am so happy that the TRUTH about covid and its vaccines has got to the riverine areas and villages in Nigeria. Government mandates or not, and Gov-idiots in the guise of doctors and health care workers who dismiss the TRUTH about Covid vaccines and PCR test as misinformation by what they consider Cov-idiots like myself not withstanding. My body my choice, educated or not, having heard the truth, the choice is the individual’s. Let NO man deceive you(Matt.24:4).
The word millennium is derived from two Latin words, “mille” which means thousand, and “annum” which means year. Millennium therefore means one thousand years. In eschatology, the millennium refers to the one thousand -year reign of Christ which occurs at the end of the present age after the battle of Armageddon. The word millennium occurs only in chapter 20 of the Scroll of Revelation in the entire Bible. It is used six times in the first seven verses of Revelation 20. It refers to the literal one thousand-year reign of Christ. Although the reign of the Messiah was well known to the OT prophets, the length of that reign was not specified. Therefore its duration was not known to the OT prophets. They knew it would be for a long time; for the prophet Isaiah wrote:
“There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that has not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed”(Is.65:20).
If a man who dies at the age of one hundred years is regarded as a child, then certainly the old shall be several hundreds of years of age.
Millennial Views
It is part of the mysteries of the kingdom of God. A biblical mystery is something that has always been part of God’s plan which was not revealed in the OT, but was revealed in the NT, and is always known by divine revelation. We can see that the millennium has all the three characteristics of a biblical mystery. It therefore qualifies, and should be referred to as a biblical mystery; for there is no way John the revelator would have known it other than by divine revelation, inasmuch as it was not revealed to any of the OT or NT prophets who were before him. It was not even revealed to any of his contemporary apostles and prophets. Though they were aware of the Reign of the Messiah, none of them other than the Apostle John the revelator specified its duration in their writings.
God created the world in six days. On the seventh day He rested, and He hallowed it(Gen.2:1-3). After the creation of man, God leased the world to Adam. The Heaven of Heavens belong to God, but the Earth has He given to the sons of men(Ps.115:16). Adam was to be God’s representative in the earthly domain of His Universal Kingdom. God is a spirit being without a physical body with which to relate to the external physical environment . So, He could not rule the world directly. He could only do so by proxy. Adam became His point man. Adam was to reign over the Earth for six days, each day corresponding to a thousand years or a millennium(2 Pet.3:8). The seventh day is the Shabbat of the Lord. Man works for six days, the seventh is the Shabbat of the Lord(Exod.20:8-11). Therefore Adam’s rule over the Earth was to last six millennia. According to Jewish calendar we are in the sixth millennium. This year beginning Tishri 1 is 5776. The Jewish calendar which is lunisolar is dated from day one of the creation of Adam. At the expiry of the sixth millennium, at the commencement of the seventh millennium, the rulership of the Earth will revert back to God who is the owner and Land Lord of the Earth.
“Blessed be Abram of the Most High God, possessor of the heavens and the earth”(Gen.14:19).
But Adam transferred the rulership of the Earth to Satan when he transgressed the commandment of the LORD “not to eat the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the Garden of Eden, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil”(Gen.2:16,17). Satan became the god of this Age(2 Cor.4:4). Satan’s rule over the Earth will expire at the end of the sixth millennium which is the end of God’s lease to Adam. Adam’s transaction with Satan was legal and binding inasmuch as Adam was God’s representative in the earthly realm of His Universal Kingdom. Adam had the legal right to transfer the lease to Satan inasmuch as he was God’s representative in the earthy domain of His Universal Kingdom, but not the moral right.
In the temptation Satan promised to hand over to Jesus the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them if He would bow down and worship him(Matt.4:9; Luk.4:6,7). Jesus did not question Satan’s right to the rulership of the Earth, simply because it was a legal transaction between Satan and Adam. If it were not so, the temptation would carry no weight. As a matter of fact, Jesus addressed him as the prince of this age(Jon.14:30). He is the god of this age and the prince of the power of the air(2 Cor.4:4; Eph.2:2). Satan was seeking a subordinate role for Jesus under his rulership in the Millennium. He attempted to trick Jesus into accepting the crown without the cross. If Jesus had failed, there would have been no pure human blood with which to redeem man. There would have been no kinsman redeemer or “Goel.” If Jesus had condescended, Satan would have scored the goal he failed to score when he attempted to hybridize the whole human race in Gen.6. He very well knew that Jesus was God’s representative in the earthly domain of God’s Universal Kingdom after the fall of Adam. Satan being the trickster that he is never mentioned to Jesus the duration of his reign over the Earth. It was a limited rule based on the duration of God’s lease to Adam.
Adam never had the Title Deed of the Earth. The Earth was never sold to Adam. The Earth was leased to him. What he had was the certificate of occupancy which would be withdrawn at the expiry of the lease. The Title Deed of the Earth belongs to God who is the eternal LORD of the Earth. The Title Deed of the Earth is the Seven-sealed Scroll which is kept in storage at the Throne Room of the Temple in Heaven. Adam was not qualified to break the seven seals and to open the Scroll. No man in Heaven nor on Earth was qualified to break the seals and to open or unroll the Scroll. No angel was qualified either(Rev.5:1-3). No wonder therefore that John the revelator wept sore(Rev.5:4). But the Lion from the tribe of Judah has prevailed to break the seals and to open the Scroll(Rev.5:4-14). Man could play the role of the “goel,” but he was not sinless. The holy angels who did not ally themselves to Satan in the rebellion in Eternity Past were sinless being locked in righteousness but could not play the role of the “goel” because they were not human. The “goel” must be a human being, the kinsman redeemer. Jesus, though God, is both human and sinless. So, He has prevailed. He is the kinsman redeemer, the “goel.”
At the expiry of the sixth millennium, God will recover his rulership of the Earth. Because God the Father has no physical body, He can only rule the Earth by proxy. The first Adam failed. The second man prevailed.
“The first man is of the earth earthy: the second man is the Lord from the heaven”(1 Cor.15:47).
As the last Adam, Jesus took the whole of humanity to the cross. As the second man, He created a new species of humans. If any man be in Christ Jesus, he is a new species of human being(2 Cor.5:17). Jesus created a new species of human beings, the 42nd generation(Matt.1:17). Jesus will be the Father’s representative here. Though He is God, He is also man. He has a physical body with which to relate to the external physical environment. Of all the three persons of the Godhead, Jesus is the only one who possesses a physical body with which to relate with external physical environment. Because He is the Son Of Man He can represent God here on Earth. In the millennium, Jesus shall reign over the Earth in the behalf of the Father.
Throughout all ages, great men have assayed to establish a kingdom on Earth that would last a thousand years. Charlemagne(743-814 AD) nursed the ambitious plan of a thousand year Holy Roman Empire. Adolf Hitler, the Fuhrer of Nazi Germany, referred to his empire as The Thousand-year Reich. Unfortunately it lasted for just twelve years(1933-1945). That men had toyed, romanced and grappled with the idea and notion of a thousand year kingdom on Earth is evident in history. They could not achieve it because they did not begin to fill the lofty credentials of the “Goel.” It is the prerogative of the God-Man. Jesus is the God-Man, the heavenly archetypal man.
The Millennial Reign Of Christ.
The Eschatological Timeline: The Millennium occurs After The 45-Day Restoration Period Of The Kingdom
The Millennium will begin 75 days after the close of the 70th week of Daniel, 45 days after Christ physically repossesses the Earth at the end of the Battle of Armageddon. At the start of the Millennium, Satan shall be evicted from the Earth’s premises, and incarcerated in the bottomless pit throughout the entire length of one thousand year reign of Christ”(Rev.20:1-3). According to the prophet Daniel, after God recovers His rule over the Earth from Satan, The LORD GOD Almighty will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed:
“And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall never be left to another people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever”(Dan.2:44 ).
God Almighty shall reclaim His rule over the Earth at the blowing of the seventh trumpet. The antiChrist and his Eighth And Final Beast Empire, the kings of the East, North and South and their kingdoms shall still be in existence at that time. They shall be annihilated four weeks later at the battle of Armageddon.
Prior to the breaking of the seals, God the Father hands over the Tittle Deed of the Earth to the Son who then proceeds to break the seals. This is very significant. Adam never had the Tittle Deed of the Earth. Therefore Adam was never the sovereign ruler of the Earth. As we have pointed out, Jesus is given the Tittle Deed of the Earth. In other words, He shall be sovereign over the Earth. The Father shall give Him full authority to rule the Earth. Nevertheless He shall be subject to the Father in order that the Father may be all in all.
“For He has put all things under His feet. But when He saith all things are put under Him, it is manifest that He is excepted, which put all things under Him. And when all things shall be subdued unto Him, then shall the Son also Himself be subject unto Him that put all things under Him, that God may be all in all”(1 Cor.15:27,28).
Although Jesus will be the absolute and sovereign ruler of the Earth in the Millennium, He shall still be subject to the Father who is the sovereign Lord of the universe.
David: The King Of Israel
This is a controversial subject. Would it be David, the king of Israel who would be resurrected to rule over the nation of Israel in the Millennium? Or would it be David’s Greater Son, our Lord and savior Jesus the Christ? We will probably never be that sure until we enter the Millennium.
On both sides of the top of elevated Mount Zion on which sits the Millennial Temple will be areas designated for the residence of David, King of Israel. The prophet Jeremiah wrote:
“But they shall serve the LORD their God, and David their king, whom I shall raise up unto them”(Jer.30:9).
Whether this is a direct reference to David who shall be raised up to rule over Israel in the Millennium, or David’s Greater Son, Jesus, is not readily resolved. The prophet Ezekiel added his voice:
“And David my servant shall be king over them; and they shall have one shepherd: and they shall walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes , and do them”(Ezekiel.37:24).
The nation of Israel shall no longer be divided. They shall have one shepherd and one God, and David will be prince over them. There will be no more false gods, and idolatry shall be wiped off from the Earth. “The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth and from under these heavens”(Jer.10:11).
“And I will set up one shepherd over them, and shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them and he shall be their shepherd. And I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the LORD have spoken it”(Ezek.24:23,24 ).
Robert Van Kampen, one of my fathers in eschatology is of the opinion that whereas Christ rules over the whole earth, David shall rule over Israel. Christ shall rule over the whole Earth from His Throne Room in the rebuilt Third Jewish Temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem. This will be the Fourth and the Millennial Temple sitting atop the summit of the renovated, expansive and elevated Mount Zion. On either side of the holy area, to the east and to the west, will be areas designated for the prince, from where David will rule over Israel. Jerusalem, the capital city of Israel shall be renovated and so also the whole land of Israel.
“Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will bring again the captivity of Jacob’s tents, and have mercy on his dwelling places; and the city shall be builded upon her own heap, and the place shall remain after the manner thereof”(Jer.30:18).
The twelve Apostles of the Lamb shall be rulers over the twelve tribes of Israel.
“Ye are they which have continued with Me in my temptations. And I appoint unto a kingdom, as My Father hath appointed unto me; That ye may eat and drink in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel”(Luk.22:28-30).
“And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, that ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son Of Man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye shall also sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel”(Matt.19:28).
Other Kings And Kingdoms
During the Millennium, there will still be nations. These nations will be administered by their own rulers. The resurrected saints shall have oversight over these nations. The resurrected saints shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.
“Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years”(Rev.20:6).
The saints who were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, who had not worshipped the beast neither his image, who refused to be beast-marked either on their foreheads or in their hands shall also be resurrected, and shall reign with Christ for a thousand years in the Millennium.
“And saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years”(Rev.20:4).
These other nations shall have their own governmental structure and organization under the overall rulership of Christ. During the Millennium, God’s glory shall illuminate not only Israel and her Holy City Jerusalem, but also all the other nations of the world and their cities.
“And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honor into it.”
Solomon, the wise, rich and opulent king of Israel is usually not spoken of as a prophet, but in Psalm 72, he prophesied about the universal reign of the Messiah over the nations and kings of the Earth.
“He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.”
“They that dwell in the wilderness(the Arab and Asian nations) shall bow before Him: and His enemies shall lick the dust. The Kings of Tarshish and of the isles(European and Asian nations) shall bring presents: the Kings of Sheba and Seba(African nations) shall offer gifts. Yea, all kings shall fall down before Him: all nations shall serve Him”(Ps.72:8-11).
During the Millennium, all the nations of the Earth will not only serve and glorify God, they shall also serve and honor Israel. They shall not afflict the Jewish people any more as they do in the present age.
“Thus saith the LORD GOD, Behold, I will lift up my hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people: and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders. And Kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: and thou shall know that I am the LORD: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me”(Is.49:22,23).
The final ingathering of the Jews from the diaspora at the end of the Battle of Armageddon shall be effected by the Gentile survivors of the Day Of The LORD. As they congregate to Jerusalem for the Sheep And Goat Judgment, they shall bring the Jews who survive the wrath of God in the diaspora. The Jews who survive the Day Of The LORD in diaspora shall be witnesses of these Gentiles in the Sheep and Goat judgment of the Gentile nations, either to justify or condemn them: inasmuch as these Gentiles will be judged on the bases of their treatment of the Jews during the Great Tribulation at the hands of the antiChrist. The believers then in their eternal immortal resurrection bodies shall be their witnesses as well.
These nations are the Gentile survivors of the wrath of God.
“The nations shall see and be confounded at all their might: they shall lay their hand upon their mouth, their ears shall be deaf. They shall lick dust like the serpent, they shall move out of their holes like worms of the earth: they shall be afraid of the LORD our God, and shall fear before Him”(Mic.7:16,17).
They shall come out of their fortresses, the rocks and mountains where they were hiding during the wrath of God(Rev.12:14-17). They shall come trebling, and in fear and dread of our LORD. They shall assemble in Jerusalem for the Sheep and Goat Judgment.
“when the Son Of Man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory: And before Him shall be gathered all nations: and He separate them one from another, as the shepherd divideth his sheep from the goat”(Matt.25:31,32).
The sheep shall be justified. They shall enter the millennium and repopulate the Earth alongside their Jewish counterparts. The goats shall be liquidated and consigned to Hell.
During the Millennium, the Jew shall be revered unlike in the present age when they are denigrated, maligned, and persecuted.
“Thus saith the LORD of hosts; It shall yet come to pass, that there shall come people, and the inhabitants of many cities: And the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to pray before the LORD, and to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the LORD. Thus saith the LORD of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you”( Zechariah.8:20-23).
This should not be a surprise; for Jesus shall rule the world from His Throne Room in the Fourth And Millennial Temple on Mount Zion. People shall come from all over the world to see God in Jerusalem. In those days, it shall be fashionable to befriend a Jew in order to facilitate access. This is not bribery but seeking divine favour.
Events In The First Day Of The Millennium
There are about five specific events that occur on the first day of the Millennium. These events are recorded sequentially in Revelation 20 & 21, with the exception of Rev.20:7-15, which is parenthetic and records the The White Throne Judgment which occurs at the end of the Millennium. The parenthesis of Rev.20:7-15 is a detailed explanation of the second death which occurs at the end of the Millennium at The White Throne Judgment. The second death is the Lake Of Fire.
“And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire”(Rev.20:14,15).
The Sheep and Goat Judgment which also occurs on the first day of the Millennium is not recorded in the Scroll of Revelation, but is recorded in Matt.25:31-46.
(1) Satan Chained
God gave Adam a limited control over the earthly domain of His Universal kingdom. This limited but powerful control over the Earth was usurped by Satan when Adam fell through transgression. So, Satan became the god of this age. The consequence of the fall was the corruption of the whole human race and the entire creation. Jesus came to reverse the consequences of the fall. The redemption of man and the whole creation occurs instages. At His first advent Jesus dealt with spiritual death brought about by sin. At His second advent, He will wrest physical control of the starry heavens and the Earth from Satan. He will reclaim God’s rule over the Earth. He will receive absolute, divine and sovereign control over the Earth. Therefore Satan and his demonic hordes shall be evicted from the Dark Void and the starry heavens and from the Earth’s premises.
Precisely at the midpoint of the 70th seven, Satan and his hordes of fallen evil angels were evicted from their abode in the dark void and the starry heavens. “And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels. And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him”(Rev12:7-9).
At Armageddon, Satan’s forces under the command of the antiMessiah shall be totally annihilated. The antiChrist and the false prophet shall be cast into the lake of fire, but Satan and his fallen evil angels shall still be roaming the Earth until incarcerated in the shaft of the abyss. To eliminate his influence in the lives of the citizens of the Millennial Kingdom Of God, Satan and his evil demonic hordes must be evicted from the Earth’s premises and incarcerated in the bottomless pit.
“And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years. And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal of upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years shall be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season”(Rev.20:1-3).
Christ would have none of Satan’s influence on the citizens of his millennial kingdom. Therefore he must be bound and incarcerated. Although it is not mentioned that his demons were bound, it is obvious that they too were bound with him, lest they negatively influence the citizens of the millennial kingdom of the Messiah. Because he will be bound for a thousand years, he will, of necessity be bound on the first day of the Millennium.
(2) The Sheep And Goat Judgment
With the antiChrist’s army and the armies of the others kings and kingdoms of the Earth destroyed at Armageddon, and anyone with the mark of the beast executed, all that will be left would be the ones who do not have the mark of the beast. Before any of these can enter the Millennium to repopulate the Earth, they must pass through the Sheep and Goat Judgment to determine their eligibility to enter into the millennial reign of the Messiah.
“When The Son Of Man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory: And before Him shall be gathered all nations: and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats; And He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on His left. Then shall the King say unto them on His right hand, Come Ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungered , and ye gave me Me meat: I was thirsty and ye gave Me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took Me in: Naked, and ye clothed Me: I was sick and ye visited Me: I was in prison, and ye came unto Me. Then shall the righteous answer Him, saying, Lord, when saw we Thee an hungered, and fed Thee? or thirsty, and gave Thee drink? When saw we Thee a stranger, and took Thee in? or naked, and clothed Thee? Or when saw we Thee sick, or in prison, and came unto Thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, Ye have done it unto Me. Then shall He say unto them on the left hand, Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungered, and ye gave Me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave Me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took Me not in: naked, and ye clothed Me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited Me not. Then shall they answer Him, saying, Lord, when saw we Thee an hungered, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto Thee? Then shall He answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to Me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal” (Matt.25:31-46).
Jesus shall personally conduct this judgment from His Throne in the Throne Room of the newly built Fourth And Millennial Temple at the center of the Holy Area at the summit of renovated and elevated Mount Zion. It shall occur when He comes in His glory with His holy angels, just as we have pointed out after the Battle Of Armageddon(Rev.19:11-21). All nations, that is, those who survived the wrath of God and the final battle of Armageddon, shall be gathered unto Him in Jerusalem. All survivors of the day of His Wrath who were not immediately executed as a result of being beast-marked shall appear before Him in Jerusalem. None of the Gentiles who appear at the Sheep And Goat Judgment shall have the mark of the beast. Any survivors of the wrath of God who bears the mark of the beast shall be immediately executed. If any man has the mark of the Beast, the wrath of God abides on him.
All His angels will be with Him. It therefore follows these survivors shall be miraculously gathered to Jerusalem, considering the devastation caused by the final wrath of God. It shall take 45 days to gather all surviving Gentiles to the land of Israel for this judgment. It is within this 45-day period, the Restoration Period of the Kingdom, that the Earth will be renovated.
Jews who survive the wrath of God would not be required to appear at this judgment, having accepted Him as their Messiah when they see His nail-pierced hands(Zech.12:10-14), shortly before the sounding of the seventh trumpet when the mystery of God is finished at the completion of the spiritual kingdom of God. Of course, Jews who survive the day of His Wrath, who are beast-marked, shall be executed instantly like all others. But the plain truth is that no one with the mark of the beast will survive the wrath of God; for the wrath of God abides on any one who is beast-marked(Rev.14:9,10). The Greek word translated nations in KJV is “ethnos” which could also be rendered heathen, peoples, or Gentiles. The Hebrew equivalent is “Goyim” which is used by Jews to refer to non-Jewish peoples. It is not a reference to independent political states. It refers to individuals of all ethnic groups other than the Jew. So the sheep and goat judgment is the judgment of individuals of all ethnic groups other than the Jew who survive the day of His wrath, rather than independent nation states. No Jew will appear or be judged at the Sheep And Goat Judgment.
God’s wrath would have destroyed anyone who has the mark of the beast(Zeph.1:17). “And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascended up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name”(Rev.14:9-11).
When the first avenging angel poured his bowl into the Earth, it became a noisome and grievous sore upon the men who had the mark of the beast, and upon them who worshipped his image(Rev.16:2). Most probably therefore, no one with the mark of the beast shall survive the Day Of His Wrath which ends with the seventh and final bowl judgment at Armageddon. However if any man who is beast-marked is left alive after the Battle of Armageddon, the one shall be instantly executed; for no man with the mark of the beast shall appear at the sheep and goat judgment much less enter the Millennium.
Besides, those who appear at the Sheep And Goat Judgment do not seem to know why they are being judged. This is not what one would expect of those who have denied Christ and were beast-marked. It is therefore obvious that it will be Gentiles who rejected the mark of the beast, who neither acknowledged the antiChrist as God, nor Christ as Messiah, who somehow survived the wrath of Satan during the Great Tribulation, and God’s wrath during the day of the Lord, who will be required to make their way to Jerusalem during the 45-day restoration period to appear at the Sheep And Goat Judgment of the Gentile survivors of the wrath of God in the Day of The lord.
The basis of this judgment will be the Gentiles treatment of Jews and Christians in hiding during the great tribulation by the antiChrist.
“And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me”(Matt.25:40).
Their treatment of these Jews and Christians would be considered as their treatment of Christ Himself.
“Then shall He answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as Ye did it not to one of the least of these, Ye did it not to me”(Matt.25:45).
The witnesses at this trial will be surviving Jews who have just been regathered from the diaspora, and perhaps resurrected saints who will reign with Christ in the Millennium. The reason why I include Christians among His brethren is because the Dragon shall make war with the remnant of the offspring of the woman who keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ(Rev.12:17). Just as Jewish remnants in their mortal bodies gathered to the land of Israel from the diaspora at the end of the Battle of Armageddon shall be present to witness the Sheep And Goat Judgment, so also shall the resurrected saints in their new glorified eternal immortal resurrection bodies be present to witness; for they shall be priests of God and reign as kings with Christ for a thousand years.
“Bring forth the blind people that have eyes and the deaf that have ears. Let all nations be gathered together, and let the people be assembled: who among them can declare this, and show us former things? Let them bring forth their witnesses, that they may be justified: or let them hear, and say, it is truth. Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen; that Ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am He: before me there is no God formed, neither shall there be after me”(Is.43:8-10).
The Jewish witnesses will not be objects of Christ’s judgment. When the nations are gathered, the Gentiles will be permitted to present their witnesses from amongst the Jewish survivors in order that they may be justified. The surviving Jews from amongst the Gentiles are God’s witnesses that He is just in His acquittal or as the case may be His condemnation of the Gentiles. The resurrected saints shall also be witnesses that He is just in His acquittal or else condemnation of the Gentiles as the case may be. Those who haveharmed Jews and Christians or otherwise refused them assistance in their time of distress shall be condemned whether or not they are beast-marked.
“Then shall He say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from Me, Ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels” ( Matt.25:41). Those who befriended Jews and assisted them, the righteous Gentiles shall be spared, and go into eternal life, but those who did not shall go into everlasting punishment(Matt.25:46).
It is not enough not to take the mark of the beast. It is not enough not to harm Jews and believers. Indifference towards persecuted Jews and Christians merits one the status of a goat. Christ shall say to them,
“inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteousness into life eternal”(Matt.25:45,46).
The cynical ones who believe that the fact that they are not beast-marked merits salvation shall be condemned. On the other hand, those who are not beast-marked, who lay no claim to salvation shall be justified. Although these gave drink to His thirsty brethren, fed the hungry, clothed those who were naked, visited the prisoners, invited the strangers and destitute amongst them into their homes, they did not believe it was sufficient to earn them salvation, nor did hey believe they were doing it to Jesus. They expressed wonder as to when they did all these. Salvation is by grace alone through faith, and that also the gift of God. These righteous Gentiles were also elected before the foundation of the world(Eph.1:4,5;2:8,9).
(3) The Beheaded Martyrs Resurrect
The time of resurrection of the beheaded martyrs is a controversial issue amongst biblical scholars. Were they raised from the dead at the time of the rapture of the saints, or were they raised, and given a new eternal immortal resurrection body on the first day of the Millennium? One thing is very clear, this group of martyrs may include some of those under the altar at the breaking of the fifth seal who were given a new eternal immortal resurrection body at the Rapture.
“And when He had broken the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with aloud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given to every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled”(Rev.6:9-11).
The fifth seal martyrs were told to wait until their fellow brethren who were to be killed were also martyred. There is a complement of believers to be martyred during the Great Tribulation by the antiChrist. When that number is complete, God amputates the Great Tribulation with cosmic disturbances associated with the breaking of the sixth seal. At the Rapture of the church when the Shekinah appeared in the heavens, shortly before the breaking of the seventh seal, these martyrs were also raptured and received new eternal immortal resurrection bodies. If the beheaded saints were part of the fifth seal martyrs, why were they left out until the first day of the Millennium?
“And I saw thrones, and they that sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the word of God, which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image , neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years”(Rev.20:4).
As we have pointed out earlier, when they came to life, and received their new eternal immortal resurrection bodies, earlier at the Rapture of the church or on the first day of the Millennium is a debated issue in some theological circles. Malvin J. Rosenthal and Robert Van Kampen are of the opinion that these particular souls, beheaded because of the testimony of Jesus, and because of the word of God, must be given their new eternal immortal resurrection bodies on the first day of the Millennium. The Greek verb translated ‘lived’ in the KJV or ‘came to life’ in the NASV is “ezesan.” It is in the aorist active tense. Dr. Robert Gundry, the noted Greek scholar, in a private communication with Robert Van Kampen, commented:
“The parallelism of the aorist verb in this passage, for sitting, giving, living and reigning, indicate actions that take place at the same time. Naturally it is the context which determines the time referred to by these verbs, clearly at the beginning of the Millennium, because the passage in question ends with ” and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years, ” thus defining exactly when the action takes place.”
They conclude therefore that the beheaded martyrs were raised from the dead on the first day of the Millennium rather than at the Rapture of the church. When they rose from the dead, at the Rapture or on the first day of the Millennium is not vital to our teaching on the end times. However, there seem not to be any reason their resurrection from the dead delayed until the first of the Millennium as commented by Dr. Alan E. Kurschner.
The First Resurrection
The first resurrection refers to the general resurrection of believers and saints of all ages unto life. As we have borne the image of the earthy, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly(1 Cor.15:49). It is accomplished in phases.
(1) The first phase occurred when Christ who is the firstfruits of them that slept rose from the dead.
“But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept”(1 Cor.15:20).
When Christ rose from the dead, the OT saints and believers also rose with Him.
“And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after His resurrection, and went into the city, and appeared unto many”(Matt.27:52,53).
Did these dear saints re-enter their graves to await the resurrection at the Rapture? I doubt very much.
(1) The first phase occurred when Christ who is the firstfruits of them that slept rose from the dead.
“But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept”(1 Cor.15:20).
When Christ rose from the dead, the OT saints and believers also rose with Him.
“And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after His resurrection, and went into the city, and appeared unto many”(Matt.27:52,53).
Did these dear saints re-enter their graves to await the resurrection at the rapture? I doubt very much.
(2) The second phase is the resurrection of the dead in Christ which occurs at the Rapture.
“Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood shall not inherit the kingdom of God; neither corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible shall put on incorruption, and this mortal shall put on immortality”(1 Cor.15:50-53).
We shall be raptured to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with Him.
“For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also who sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them that are asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rose first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words”(1 Thess.4:14-18).
(3) The third phase will be the resurrection of the beheaded martyrs on the first day of the Millennium?
“And I saw thrones, and they that sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they live and reigned with Christ a thousand years”
(4) The fourth phase of the first resurrection is the resurrection of the saints who lived in the Millennium. Although it is not explicitly mentioned in the Scriptures, it is logically reasonable that those who entered the Millennium in this mortal body, and repopulated the Earth will some day exchange it with a new glorified eternal immortal resurrection body; inasmuch as flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, neither doth corruption inherit incorruption(1 Cor.15:50).
I personally believe that the millennial saints would be amongst the ones whose names are found in the scroll of life at the White Throne Judgment, and therefore would be justified. There are some biblical scholars who believe and teach that all those who appear at the White Throne Judgment will be condemned. Why are there the scroll of life and the scroll of works? If those whose names were not found in the scroll of life were condemned, it therefore follows that those whose names were found in the scroll of life would be justified.
If the millennial saints are not justified at the White Throne Judgment, where then are they justified? The essence of the scroll of works is to show everyone who appears at the White Throne Judgment that by works no man shall be justified. By works every man shall be condemned, because by works of the law shall no man be justified; for by the law of works is the knowledge of sin( cp Rom.3:20). All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God(Gal.2:16,17; 3:11,24; 5:5:4; Rom.3:23). And again the wages of sin death, but the gift of God is eternal life through our Lord Jesus the Christ(Rom.6:23)
The resurrection of Christ who is the firstfruits of them that slept, the resurrection of the dead in Christ, the resurrection of the beheaded martyrs, and the resurrection of the millennial saints are all part and parcel of the first resurrection which is the resurrection unto life. “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection, on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years”(Rev.20:6).
The Second Resurrection: The Second Death
The second resurrection is the resurrection unto condemnation. It is the resurrection of judgment(Jon.5:29). It is the second death. It occurs at the White Throne Judgment.
“Death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death”(Rev.20:14).
This is in contrast to the first resurrection which is the resurrection unto life. The firstfruits of the second resurrection, the resurrection unto condemnation, will be the antiChrist and the false prophet, who shall be taken captive at the Battle of Armageddon and cast alive into the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone(Rev.19:20).
The Identity Of The Beheaded Martyrs
Robert Van Kampen of blessed memory was of the opinion, though not adamantly that the beheaded martyrs of Rev.20:4, are the same as the fifth seal Martyrs under the altar. I personally do not share this view. I dohave some strictures with his view. First, the fifth seal martyrs were told to wait until their fellow brethren to be killed were fulfilled. Then and only then would God avenge their death. There is a complement of believers to be martyred during the Great Tribulation by the antiMessiah. When this is number of saints to be martyred is complete, God interrupts the Great Tribulation with cosmic disturbances. And then the church shall be taken away from the scene of persecution, raptured as it were. Second, what will be the reason for leaving those beheaded martyrs behind when their fellow saints are raptured? Thirdly, it is not mentioned that the fifth seal martyrs were all beheaded. All we were told is that they were slain for the word of God and the testimony which they upheld. The way and manner in which they were martyred was not revealed. Fourthly, it is highly probable that the beheaded saints were amongst them, but is evident that not all those who were killed for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus had their heads cut off. Rev.20:4 stated unequivocally that these martyrs had their heads cut off. It therefore follows that they are a special group of saints whose testimony were particularly provocative andinsulting to the antiChrist and his evil empire.
However, I do share the view with Robert Van Kampen that these martyrs who had their head cut off were Jewish believers who would bear witness of Christ in the Holy Land during the Great Tribulation. These Jewish believers do not only refuse the mark of the beast but will go about brazenly, from one city to another in the land of Israel, right under the noses of the antiChrist and the false prophet, proclaiming the gospel and persuading their fellow countrymen not to be chipped with the mark of the beast. Their behavior would be considered subversive to the government of the antiChrist. It is likely that the antiChrist would not see them as religious buffoons who are to be ignored but rather as treasonous felons. The antiChrist will view them as political rivals and anti-governmental subversives. Hence, the execution by decapitation. The Greek word is “cephalizomai” which means to cut off the head, or decapitation. This is to show the gravity of their offense, and to serve as a deterrent to other would-be subversives. They are indeed anti-governmental and subversive; for they represent the rival government of the Messiah.
We know that they would not have gone all over the cities of Israel before the Son Of Man comes(Matt.10:23). In other words their job would only be complete when the Messiah annihilates the antiChrist and his armies at Armageddon, and retakes physical possession of the earth. Therefore their number is probably not complete until the end of Armageddon. Hence, their resurrection on the first day of the Millennium 45 days after the Battle of Armageddon. So, some of them who were amongst the fifth seal martyrs would have have to wait till the first day of the Millennium to receive their new eternal immortal resurrection bodies, rather than at the Rapture of the church. Without the faithful witness of these martyrs, the remnant of Israel who would follow the Messiah into the Millennium would have died in unbelief. Because of their special witness, they shall be raised to life to reign with Christ for a thousand years. They have led many to Christ at the expense of their own lives. They shall shine like the stars for ever(Dan.12:3). Are Jewish believers the only ones who will be beheaded during the Great Tribulation? Or is it only in the land of Israel that Christians will be beheaded during the Great Tribulation? The answer is emphatically no. The fifth seal martyrs are from nations and tongues. It is certain that some of them were beheaded for the word word of God and the testimony which they upheld. In that case therfore, it is certain that some of them were among the beheaded saints mentioned Rev.20:4.
(4) The New Heaven And New Earth
Before the Millennium begins, the present heavens and Earth have to be cleansed from the defilement of sin. The wars, the famines, the pestilences and earthquakes, the Great Tribulation by the antiChrist, the cosmic disturbances asssociated with the breaking of the sixth seal, the seventh seal and its attendant trumpet and bowl judgments and the final Battle of Armageddon will cause a lot of devastation on the Earth and its environs and the atmospheric and starry heavens. Therefore the Earth and its environs, the atmospheric and starry heavens shall be renovated to make the Earth habitable again before the millennial reign of Christ begins. As touching this, the prophet Isaiah wrote:
“For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come mind. But be ye glad and rejoice in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy”(Is.65:17,18).
The destruction of the present heaven and Earth shall be a limited destruction not total annihilation. Apostle Peter in mockery of the scientific uniformintarians who deny that God ever intervened in human affairs in the past nor shall intervene in the future called attention to the Noahic flood.
“Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation. For this they willing are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heaven were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the present heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise as some count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with a fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heaven and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness”(2 Pet3:3-13).
As the world of Noah perished in the waters of the deluge and had to be renovated, even so shall the present heavens and Earth perish in the fires of the Day Of His Wrath, and shall be renovated to make it habitable again. It is also comparable to the kind of devastation that occurred in Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities of the plain, Zeboim and Adama when they were destroyed with fire, brimstone and sulfur from heaven. Except for the Jewish and Gentile remnants protected by God, the entire Earth shall be filled with death and destruction. The destruction caused by the Day Of The LORD, shall be a limited one, not total annihilation. So the new heavens and new earth shall not be entirely new but refurbished heavens and Earth. The Greek word translated new here is not “naos” but “kainos,” which refers to something old but renewed or refurbished. So this is not creation “ex nihilo,” creation out of nothing, which is a primary creative act. It is not a direct or primary creative act. It is an indirect or secondary creative act, that is, creation out of what is already in existence. It does not refer to something entirely new, which has not exited before, but rather the renewal of something that has existed before.
The renovation of the heavens and the earth shall begin on the first day of the 45-day Restoration Period of the kingdom and completed by the first day of the Millennium. It is not difficult to imagine how Jesus will renovate the heavens and the Earth. The survivors of the wrath of God, and the Sheep and Goat Judgment shall still be in their mortal bodies. They shall repopulate the Earth.
The eternal fires shall burn in Edom throughout the Millennium as a momorial of His indignation towards antisemism.
“Also Edom shall be a desolation: every one that goeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss at the plague thereof. As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof, saith the LORD , no man shall abide there, neither shall the son of man dwell in it”(Jer. 49:17,18).
It will take seven months to bury the dead at Armageddon, and seven years to dispose of the wreckagesof war.
“Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this the day whereof I have spoken. And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the hand staves, and the spears, and they shall burn them with fire seven years: So that they shall take no wood out of the field, neither cut down any out of the forests; for they shall burn the weapons with fire: and they shall spoil those that spoiled them, and rob those that robbed them, saith the Lord GOD. And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog a place there of the graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers on the east of the sea: and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog and his multitude: and they shall call it The valley of Hamongog. And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land. Yea, all the people of the land shall bury them; and it shall be to them a renown the day that I shall be glorified, saith the Lord GOD. And they shall severe out men of continual employment, passing through the land to bury with the passengers those that remain upon the face of the earth, to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search. The passengers that pass through the land, when they seeth a man’s bone, then shall he set up a sign by it, till the buriers have buried it in the valley of Hamongog. And the name of the city shall be Hamonah. Thus shall they cleanse the land”(Ezek.39: 8-16).
There will be a restoration of the edenic relationship between heaven and Earth. It will be new heavens and a new Earth wherein dwelleth righteousness(3 Pet.3:13). The evil consequences of the fall of Adam shall be removed. There will be no more erratic weather patterns, no excessive monsoon rains, no hurricanes and tropical storms. There will be no more swelling of the oceans, no more flooding. There shall be no more oceans in the first place. There shall be seas or perhaps big rivers. Animals will be restored to their pristine edenic state. There will be no more carnivores. All animals will be herbivorous. The lion will eat straw like the ox. A toddler shall put its finger in the den of the cockatrice. There shall be no hurt and destruction in the Holy Mount of the Lord. There shall be no more poisonous serpents. All animals will be tamed by the glory of God that fills the Earth as the waters cover the sea.
“And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, and the spirit of counsel and mighty, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; And shall make Him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and He shall not judge after the sight of His eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of His ears: But with righteousness shall He judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and He shall smite the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips shall He slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of His loins, and faithfulness the girdle of His reigns. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and the little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the suckling child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea”(Is.11:1-9).
We see here that all creatures shall revert to their pristine pre-fall estate. The rule of the jungle will no more apply. It shall be no more be dog-eat-dog society, the survival of the fittest. All creatures will be tamed. Men will no more be mugged by wild beasts; for there shall be no wide beasts at all. All animals whether domestic or wild(living in the forest) shall be tame. There shall be no more poisonous snakes. All snakes shall lose their venom. There shall be no more snake bites let alone envenomation. The rattle snake, the spitting cobra, the constrictor boa and the anaconda, the grizzly bear, the lion, the tiger and the leopard, the rhinoceros, the chimpanzee, the gorillas, the buffalo, and all other animals and creatures shall be at peace with one another and with man.
There shall be no poisonous lizards and insects. There shall be no more blood sucking insects. All mosquitos shall feed on fruit juice. All insects shall feed on fruit juice and vegetations. The vampire bat shall no more suck blood either of animals or of humans.
There shall be no more poisonous sea snakes. All fishes shall be at peace with one another. The shark shall become herbivorous, so also the whale, and all other sea creatures. They shall not hurt no devour in My holy mountain; for the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.
The deserts of the Earth shall be reclaimed. The whole Earth will be of one weather, subtropical. There shall be no more torrential downpours. The Earth shall be wetted by the dew of the heavens every morning and evening. The Canadian and Siberian permafrost shall be reclaimed. So also the Arctic and Antarctic oceans. The Atlantic and Pacific oceans shall varnish freeing huge expanse of land for farming and human habitation. In this age scientists tell us that one-fourth of the ice-free surface of the earth can support a population of 40 billion people. Food does not go round because of human greed. In the Millennium the curse on the Earth shall be lifted. The Earth shall yield her increase. There shall be no more drought and no more famines and dearth. There shall be no pestilences, no earthquakes, no tsunamis, and no volcanic eruptions. Mountains shall no more spew hot ash and larva. There will be plenty to eat and drink. The Earth shall yield her increase. Human greed and corruption shall be things of the past. There shall be no more hoarding of commodities. Food preservation will be at the optimum level. Wastage of food, if any, shall be minimized. There shall be equitable distribution of wealth. Everyone will produce maximally and take what one needs. There shall be no competition let alone cut-throat competition.
There shall be no more insect vectors of diseases. There shall be no more parasites. All bacteria, viruses, rickettsia and chlamidia shall be non-pathogenic. The river of life from under the Throne Room of the Lord shall water the Earth, bringing healing to the land. It will always be planting season and harvest time. There will be natural drip irrigation from the river of life from the Throne of the Messiah in the Fourth And Millennial Temple on the renovated and elevated Mount Zion in Jerusalem, and the dew of heaven shall wet the earth morning and evening. The tree that shall grow by the banks of the river of life shall yield twelve manner of fruits for the nourishment of the body. The leaves of the tree shall be for the healing of the nations and for the maintenance of health. Citizens of the millennial kingdom shall live out their lifetime. Those who die at the age of one hundred shall be regarded as infants. They shall be no more infants of days. But the sinner being an hundred years old shall be cursed(Is.65:20).
This shall be the time the whole creation had waited and travailed for.
“For we reckon that the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him that hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. For we are save by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it( Rom.8:19).
The whole creation alongside the redeemed of the Lord groan and travail together until the present time, waiting for the redemption of our body, when we shall receive our glorified eternal and immortal bodies, when we shall be free from the frailties and restrictions of our mortal bodies, into the glorious Liberty of the sons of God. The whole creation itself shall be freed from the bondage of corruption into the glorious Liberty of the sons of God.
It is the time of regeneration.
“And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son Of Man shall sit upon the throne of His glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel”(Matt.19:28).
We see here that the twelve apostles of the Lamb shall judge the twelve tribes of Israel in the Millennium.
It is the time of restoration of all things.
“And He shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: whom the heavens must receive nail the time of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began”(Acts 3:21).
Jesus must remain in heaven until the time of restitution of all things when God Almighty shall regain control of the Earth; then shall He sit upon the throne of His father David, and rule over Israel and the whole Earth.
Nations will not learn war any more; for there shall be no more wars.
“And He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plow shares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more”(Is.2:4)
Hebrew shall be the universal language in the Millennium. This will ease travels and communications. Because there will be good infrastructure, it will be extremely easy to move around. Though there will be national boundaries, border crossing will be facilitated by one international language and the good intentions of the citizens of the millennial kingdom.
The Lord shall rule the Earth with a rod of iron. No murderer will be kept alive at the expense of law abiding citizens of the millennial kingdom.
The nations shall congregate to Israel to worship the Lord in His Temple on Mount Zion in Jerusalem.
“And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and He teach us of His ways, and we shall walk in His paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem”(Is.2:3).
No Idols And No Idolatry
There shall be no more arguments as to which is the true God; for Satan and his hordes of fallen evil angels shall be evicted from the Earth’s premises and bound in the shaft of the abyss for a thousand years: thusly eliminating their corrupting influence on the citizens of Christ’s millennial kingdom. There shall be no more idols to worship.
“The idols shall be abolished from the earth. For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the LORD made the heaven”(Ps.96:5).
“Their idols are silver and gold”(Ps.115:4).
“The idols of the heathen are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands”(Ps.135:15).
“The gods that have no made the heaven and the earth, even they shall perish from under the earth, and from under these heavens”(Jer.10:11).
“And the idols He shall utterly abolish”(Is.2:18).
All the idols would have been done away with during the Day Of His wrath.
“And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of His majesty, when He arises to shake terribly the earth. In that day, a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they have made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats; to go into the clefts of the rocks, into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of His majesty, when He ariseth to shake terribly the earth. Cease from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?”(Is.2:19-22).
Men shall no more practice witchcraft. There shall be no more observers of times nor necromancers nor star gazers. There shall be no more secret societies nor false religions. With Satan and his fallen evil angels bound in the bottomless pit, the antiChrist and the false prophet cast into the Lake of fire and brimstone, and all the idols and graven images destroyed during the Day Of His Wrath, there shall be no more sacrilege. This shall be the state of affairs throughout the Millennium until Satan is paroled at the end of the Millennium, when he shall deceive the nations in the four quarters of the earth.
“And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea”(Rev.20:7,8).
With the curse on humanity greatly reduced, Satan and his fallen evil angels incarcerated in the shaft of the abyss, the antiMessiah and the false prophet cast into the Lake of fire and brimstone, and the idols utterly abolished from the Earth, God, man, and His angels shall have unbounded fellowship and communion. It will be heaven on Earth. The heavens and the Earth shall be in holy union and embrace.
The New And Heavenly Jerusalem
There are some biblical scholars, especially of the pretribulation persuasion that teach that the new and heavenly Jerusalem shall appear at the end of the Mellennium as part of the New Heaven And New Earth. How long this new heavens and earth will last is not specified. Beyond this, according to them is the eternal state. But a careful examination of the Scriptures will reveal that the new heavens and new Earth is synonymous with the millennial reign of Christ. And the new and heavenly Jerusalem and the conjoint Fourth And Millennial temple on the renovated and elevated Mount Zion is the focal point of the millennial reign of Christ. After the Millennium and the subsequent White Throne Judgment is the Eternal State. Whatever the eternities future would look like, we are not told. The secret things are for God; but the things which are revealed are for us and our children, to the end we may keeps the words of the instruction(Deut.29:29). Therefore we shall be content with what is revealed, and not venture to thinker and speculate with divine secrets of the future.
Jesus promised His disciples that after the Rapture, He will never again be separated from them.
“Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again , and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also”(Jon.14:1-3).
After the Rapture we shall never be separated from Christ again.
“But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them that are asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout , with the voice of the archange,and with the trump of God: and the dead inChrist shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words”(1 Thess.4:13-18).
As we can see, it is explicitly clear that the church will never again be separated from Christ after the Rapture. And in the mouth of two or three witnesses, every word shall be established(1 Cor.13:1; Numb.35:30). This is indeed so because after the Rapture of the church, after the end of the 70th of Daniel, during the 30-day reclamation period, while the forces of God are pounding the antiChrist and his evil kingdom here on Earth, the Bema Seat Judgment of the believers at which the saints are rewarded and bejeweled and the Marriage Of The Lamb to His decorated bride will take place in Heaven. The bride who now becomes the wife, will never again be separated from her husband. The new Jerusalem which is now in construction in Heaven will descend from Heaven to rest on summit of the renovated and elevated mount Zion. At the summit of mount Zion is The Fourth And Millennial Temple described by the prophet Ezekiel(Ezek. 40-43), built by Christ Himself during the 45-day restoration period of the kingdom. The new and heavenly Jerusalem shall be the residence of the resurrected saints, the wife of Christ and the OT saints and the angels of God during the Millennial Reign Of Christ.
“And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And He that sat on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And He said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. And He said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son”( Rev.21:2-7).
Here the new and heavenly Jerusalem is referred to as a bride adorned for her husband. This is a metaphor. It is no more the bride of Christ as the house of the newly wed is the wife of the man. The house of the newly married man is the bride to extent that the wife dwells in that house. When he is home, he sees the wife who welcomes him. She is the centerof attraction and the joy of the husband, and vice versa. The just decorated church at the bema seat judgment, newly wed at the marriage of the Lamb now abides with Him in the new and heavenly Jerusalem descended from God out of Heaven. It is the tabernacle of God amongst men. It is hollow at the base and merges with the Throne Room of The Fourth And Millennial Temple at the summit of Mount Zion. This city has no temple, God and Christ are the temple of it(Rev.21:22). In reality the city does not need another temple. It is conjoint and contiguous at the base with The Fourth And Millennial Temple on the renovated and elevated Mount Zion, probably the highest point on Earth in the Millennium. The Fourth And Millennial Temple projects upwards in the center of the city.
The inhabitants of this city shall not need the light of the sun, moon, and stars to get by. The dwellers of this city are God, His angels and the resurrected saints of both the OT and NT. God and his angels have no physical bodies. Jesus and the resurrected saints have glorified eternal immortal resurrection bodies. Neither God and his angels nor Christ and the resurrected saints require the physical light of the sun , moon and stars. They have the life of God, “Zoe eioneis,” in themselves. The life of God in them is the light. “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men”(Jon.1:4). The Lamb is the light thereof(Rev.21:23). The light shineth in the darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not(Jon.1:4,5). The light source of the believer is in his spirit. It is the new life in Christ. In this age, it is eclipsed by the mortal body. But in the regeneration, it shall be unhindered, unhamperd, and unimpeded by the new and glorified eternal immortal resurrection body. The resurrected body is both transparent and translucent. In the resurrection there are no secrets. Everyone sees through everyone and knows what the other person is thinking. Thoughts are loud and transparent. There shall be no natural nights in this city. Therefore, It shall be always 12 noon.
In that city, there shall be no death, no ache, no pain, no sorrow, therefore there shall be no crying. The former things of pain, sickness, disease, death are passed away. These are the consequences of sin. When sin is eliminated, so are its consequences. The nations of them that serve Him shall walk in the light of it: and the Kings of the earth shall bring their glory into it(Rev.21:23). These are not earthly kings in their mortal bodies. The risen and glorified saints shall reign with Christ. They are the kings and priests of Christ. They shall be given rulership over nations, peoples, and tongues. They are the ones who shall bring the glories of the nations of the earth in the Millennium into the new and heavenly Jerusalem.
Men in their mortal bodies cannot approach this city. Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incoruuption(1 Cor.15:50). The mortal body cannot tolerate the light of this city. It shall literally melt away. Anyone who ministers in the anointing of the Holy Spirit knows that it wears out the physical body. There is a level of the anointing that this mortal body of ours cannot tolerate.
“There shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s scroll of life”(Rev.21:27).
The unglorified saints living in their mortal bodies here on Earth in the Millennium cannot approach this city. They have not experienced consummative sanctification or glorification. There are still intrinsic imperfections and impurities in these souls in their mortal bodies. Therefore they cannot approach this city. They can worship in the temple in some designated areas but they cannot enter into the new and heavenly Jerusalem.
In contrast to the Earth in the Millennium, though minimized, because Christ shall rule the Earth with a rod of iron(Ps.2:9; Rev.12:5; 19:5), there will be pain, ache, sorrow and death. It will be so, because those who enter the Millenium and repopulate the Earth, do so in their mortal bodies. They shall still be subject to sin. They still have to come to the saving knowledge of Christ every man on his own. Some will not accept Christ as their personal Saviour. Because they sin, they shall die young. Those who die at the age of 100 years shall be regarded as babies. “There shall be no more thence and infant of days, nor an old man that hath not fulfilled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be acursed”(Is.65: 20). There shall still be sin in the Millennium amongst those living in the mortal body. But it shall be reduced to the barest minimum due to the presence Christ, the saints, and the holy angels, and the absence of Satan and his fallen evil angels. Christ shall rule the Earth with a rod of iron. There shall be immediate and swift punishment of sin.There shall be no delayed punishments for sin.
“And He showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bear twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: the leaves of the trees were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and His servants shall serve Him: And they shall see His face; and His name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever”(Rev.22:1-5).
As we have pointed out, the new and heavenly Jerusalem which descends from God out of heaven shall be contiguous with The Fourth Temple at the summit of the renovated and elevated Mount Zion. The renovated and earthly Jerusalem shall be the capital city of the world. The temple is the center of attraction in the Millennium. It is the seat of Christ’s Government, the headquarters of His Administration. Men from all over the world shall flock to it to pray and to see God in the flesh. In this temple, the heavens and Earth are in holy union and embrace. In the temple, God, man, the resurrected as well as those in their mortal bodies, and the angels of God are in holy communion. It is the focal point of the Millennium. It is the merging of the spheres. In it, the living in their mortal bodies and the dead and resurrected in their glorified eternal immortal resurrection bodies are in holy communion and embrace.
The Throne Room of Christ’s Government shall be in the temple. From that Throne Room, the river of life shall flow in two directions. Upwards to the heavenly Jerusalem. Downwards to the earthly Jerusalem and the rest of the world. The river that flows downwards to the earthy Jerusalem and the rest of the world is described in Ezekiel 47. This river shall water the land of Israel and the rest of the world. It shall be teaming with fishes. It will heal the land and make it fruitful. It will make the desert blossom like the rose. It shall flow into the sea(Ezek.47:8). The seas of the world which have been polluted by human activities and the judgment of God in the day of His wrath shall be healed, and purified by the waters of this river of life. There are some that teach that there shall be no seas in the Millennium because the seas and the fresh water lakes were destroyed by the wrath of God. “And there were no more sea”(Rev. 21:1). But it is obvious from Ezek.47:8 that the downward flowing river shall end up in the sea. The prophet Zechariah spoke of living waters that shall flow out of Jerusalem:
“And it shall be that in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be”(Zech.14:8). The prophet Joel predicted that a stream shall flow out of the house of the Lord: ” And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth out of the house of the LORD, and shall water the valley of Shittim”(Joel 3:18).
The trees shall also bear fruits for food. The leaves thereof shall be for the healing of the nations(Ezek.47:12). The Hebrew word translated medicine here means bruises and minor ailments. That is quite understandable because sin itself and its evil effects on the human body shall be drastically minimized. We shall elaborate on this in our study of the earthly Jerusalem in the Millennium.
Here we are more interested in the river that flows upwards to the new and heavenly Jerusalem. It flows in its Broadway. On either side of the river, and in the midst of it, shall be a tree that bears twelve manner of fruits. These fruits shall be food for the dwellers of the new and heavenly Jerusalem. The leaves shall be for the healing of the nations of them that are saved. Now, do the inhabitants of this city ever get sick? No. Why do they need healing? They do not need healing. They need the leaves of this tree for the maintenance of health. Angels eat food. Manna is the food of the angels(Ps.78:24,25). When Jesus rose from the dead, He ate broiled fish(Luk.24:42). Resurrected saints also eat food. Food is for maintenance of the body. The leaves of this tree aid in the maintenance of health.
The Dimensions Of The City
“And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof and the wall thereof. And the city lieth four-square, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the heights of it are equal. And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel”(Rev.21:15-17).
One of the seven avenging angels with the seven last plagues who talked with John the revelator has a golden reed to measure the city, the wall and the gates. That one of the seven avenging angels was called to measure the city probably indicates that this is not an event that occurs at the end of the Mellennium, that is one thousand years after the wrath of God, but rather prior to it, at the beginning of the Mellennium. The city has the shape of a cube. The length, the breadth and the height of it are equal, about twelve thousand furlongs. A furlong is about one-eighth of a mile. This is about 1500 miles or 2500 km. A reed is a measuring instrument used in the ancient Near East. It is about ten and one-half feet long, about 10 meters. He measured the wall thereof, it was about 144 cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel. A cubit is the length of an average man from the tip of the middle finger to the tip of the elbow. 144 cubits is equal to 216 ft, or 72 yards, about 66 meters. This is the thickness of the wall. It is thicker than the wall of Jericho and Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon. It is virtually impregnable. The wall of the city was made of glass, and the city itself of pure gold like clear glass. Do we suppose that these are earthly materials? No. This city is built of heavenly materials.
A full description of the new and heavenly Jerusalem is given in our comments on the Scroll of Revelation. In that comment, the other aspects of the city like the gates of the city, the foundations of the city, the substance of the foundations, the substance of the gates and the lights of the city are described in fine details.
The Marriage Supper Of The Lamb
The timing of this event in the millennial reign of Christ is not specified in Scripture, we know it shall take place in the early stages of the Millennium. The marriage of the Lamb to His bride has taken place in Heaven during the 30-day reclamation period after the Bema Seat Judgment of the saints at which they are bejeweled. The bride is now rewarded and decorated with crowns of gold studded with precious stones, jewelries, and gems. The Earth has been restored during the 45-day restoration period. The Earth and the heavens have been cleared of demons. Satan is bound in the Bottomless Pit for a thousand years. The fallen evil angels are sent to Hell or imprisoned with Satan in the abyss. The antiChrist and the false prophet have been cast into the lake of fire and brimstone.
The new and heavenly Jerusalem has descended from God out of heaven. It is merged at its base with the fourth and millennial temple built by Christ on the renovated and elevated Mount Zion. The 144,000 Jews hidden in Azel during the final wrath of God are now reunited with Jesus, the Messiah of Israel and all mankind(Zech.14:5). All Israel is now saved(Rom.11:26). The Gentiles who survived the Great Tribulation, the wrath of God, and were justified in the Sheep and goat judgement have repopulated the Earth. Thenew heavens and new Earth have been created. The earthly and millennial Jerusalem have been renovated, and has become the eternal capital of the Earth. Jesus, the Messiah of Israel and of all mankind has been coronated King of kings, and Lord of lords. He sits on the throne of His father David, and reigns king for ever from the throne of God and of Christ in the Throne Room on The Fourth And Millennial Temple on Mount Zion. All is now set for the marriage supper of the Lamb. The bride is united with her husband in the new and heavenly Jerusalem.
The marriage supper of the Lamb is the reception that follows the wedding or marriage of the Lamb that has taken place in Heaven earlier. On that day, Christ will drink anew the fruit of the vine with His disciples in His Father’s Kingdom. “But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s Kingdom”(Matt.26:29). It is interesting that here Christ refers to the millennial kingdom as My Father’s Kingdom. Although He is sovereign over the Earth, He is subject to the Father who is all in all(1 Cor.15:27,28).
This will be the most glamorous wedding of all ages, with all the pomp and pageantry of the heavens and Heaven of heavens. God Almighty will make a feast of wines on the lees for all nations.
“And in this mountain shall the LORD of hosts make unto all peoples a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. And He will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death in victory; and the LORD GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of His people shall He take away from off the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it”(Is.25:6-8).
Food and drink shall be in excess of everyone’s fill. The bride shall be resplendent in glory, and the scene stupendous. The only thing that shall be compared to it will be the marriage of the Lamb that took place earlier in Heaven.
“Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to Him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come , and His wife has made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints. And He saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called to the marriage super of the Lamb. And He saith unto me , These are the true sayings of God”(Rev.19:7-9).
The heavens, the galaxies will display their stupendous glories in magnificent splendor. It will be a lavish banquet unlike anything seen before. Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb(Rev.19:9).The bride will be adorned for her husband, gorgeously appareled(Rev.21:2). Christ Himself shall be so glorious in appearance that the light of His countenance shall illuminate the whole universe. The marriage supper of the Lamb shall be part of the celebration of God’s victory over the kingdom of darkness, on the same footing as The Marriage Of The Lamb , and The Bema Seat Judgment of the saints.
The Bride
There are some biblical scholars who believe and teach that the bride will consists of the saints of all ages. I do not share that view for the simple fact that John the baptizer refers to himself as the friend of the bridegroom. He that has the bride is the bridegroom. Jesus is the bridegroom, that is not debatable.
“He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth Him, rejoiceth because of the bridegroom’s voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease. He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly , and speaketh of the earth: He that cometh from above is above all”(Jon.3:29-31).
John’s own testimony about himself is that he is a friend of the bridegroom. He stands by thebridegroom and hears His voice. This therefore my joy is fulfilled. He cannot be Christ friend standing by Him at the wedding and the subsequent reception, the marriage supper, and be part of the bride at the same time. My conclusion therefore is that John is Christ’s bestman.
Christ’s own testimony about John the baptizer is that:
“Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater that he”(Matt.11:11).
Of all those born of women, there hath not arisen any greater than John the Baptist: but he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. The questions are who are those born of women, and who are the least in the Kingdom of heaven. My understanding is that Christ was referring to the OT saints, and the NT saints. Of all the OT saints there was none greater than John the Baptist, but the least among the NT saints, the church, the bride of Christ, the least is greater then he. My conclusion therefore is that the OT saints are not part of the bride of Christ, inasmuch as John the baptizer who is the greatest of them all is less than the least of the NT saints, is not part of the bride but his friend or bestman at the wedding in heaven and the marriage supper, the reception on Mount Zion in the new and earthly Jerusalem.
The Attendees
At every wedding and the subsequent reception, there are invited guests. At the marriage super of the Lamb there will also be invited guests. The Father and the Holy Spirit though invisible to those in their mortal bodies will be the hosts of the wedding. The OT saints will be the there. John the baptizer will be Christ’s bestman. Some of the greats among the OT saints like fathers Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Elijah, David etc will be seated at the table. The angels of God will be there. Some of them, like the archangels Michael and Gabriel will be seated at the table. A good number of the angels will wait on the guests, inasmuch as they are ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation(Heb.2:14) Those in there mortal bodies who repopulate the Earth in the Millennium will be there. The 144,000 of the children of Israel who follow the Lamb wherever He goes will be there. They will most probably be part of Heaven’s security details. The Jews who survived the Great Tribulation and the wrath of God in the Day Of the Lord shall be there.
How do we know that the marriage supper of the Lamb shall take place on Earth? Because there was found there one who did not have a wedding garment( Matt.22:11-14). This is probably one of the survivors of the sheep and goat judgment. This cannot happen in Heaven. This cannot happen in heaven because flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, neither doth corruption inherit in corruption(1 Cor.15:50).
Summary
“And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdom as of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ever and ever”(Rev.11:15).
The celebration of the marriage supper of the Lamb marks the completion of the defeat of Satan and his fallen evil angels. Satan, the supreme personality of evil, the corrupter of the Earth and all mankind has been defeated, evicted from the Earth’s premises and incarcerated in the shaft of the abyss. The antiMessiah and The False Prophet have been cast into the Lake Of Fire And Brimstone.
“And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.”(Rev.19:20 KJV).
All those who gave allegiance to Satan by capitulating to the authority of the antiMessiah have been destroyed. God Almighty has reclaimed His rule of the the Earth usurped by Satan. Christ has regained physical possession of the Earth at Armageddon. He has received the Kingdom from the Father, and crowned King of kings, and Lord of lords. He has re-established the Kingdom Of God on Earth over which He, Christ would rule for ever.
“And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth “(Rev19:6).
The Jewish survivors of the Great Tribulation and the Day Of The LORD have come to the saving knowledge of Christ. The Gentile survivors of the Great Tribulation, the wrath of God, and the Sheep And Goat Judgment have been brought to the saving knowledge of Christ. They have entered into the Millennium to repopulate the earth alongside the remnants of Israel. All nations, kindreds, peoples and tongues are represented. The church has been raptured, The Bema Seat Judgment at which the saints of all ages are rewarded and bejeweled have been held. The decorated bride of Christ is married to Him. The heavens and the Earth have been cleansed from the defilement of sin. The new heavens and Earth have been created.
“Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former shall not be remembered nor come to mind”(Is.65:17).
The whole Earth is restored and renovated. The new and earthly Jerusalem, the eternal capital of Israel and of the whole Earth has been rebuilt. The fourth and millennial Temple have been built on the summit of Mount Zion, the highest point on the new Earth. The new and heavenly Jerusalem, the abode of the bride of Christ, all resurrected saints and the angels of God has come down from God out of heaven to merge with the the millennial temple at its base on Mount Zion. Christ is reunited with His bride never to part again.
“And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away”(Rev.21:3,4).
From the Throne Room of God and of Christ, livings waters flow downwards towards Jerusalem and the rest of the earth, bring healing to the Earth and the seas. The waters team with fish, and there are lots of fishing activities. The tree by the banks of the river yields fruits which are food, and the leaves of the trees are for the healing of the nations of them who dwell on earth in their mortal bodies of bruises and minor ailments.
From the Throne Room also the river flows upwards as it were to the boardway of the new and heavenly Jerusalem. The tree which grows by the banks of the river and in the midst of it yields twelve manner of fruits. The fruits are food for the dwellers of the new and heavenly Jerusalem, some of whom are angels, and others resurrected saints in their glorified eternal immortal resurrection bodies. The leaves of the tree also are for the sustenance of health.
From the Throne Room, Christ shall rule over the Earth with rod of iron. David or his greater son is king over Israel. The twelve apostles judge Israel. The saints reign with Christ over the nations of the Earth, and are priests of Christ, and of God. The glories and wealth of the nations are brought into the new and heavenly Jerusalem in which there is no night. It is always day. Man, angel, and God are in holy communion, union, and embrace. The heaven and Earth are in holy embrace. From year to year, all nations come to worship God in Jerusalem and to observe the yearly feast of tabernacles(Sukkot). Jerusalem andits Holy Temple are the focal point in the Millennium. The Jews are revered all over he world, and there is no more antisemism(Zech.8:23).
With this, the Earth has been restored more or less to its pristine state before the fall of Adam.
Prior to the commencement of the 70th seven of Daniel, there are certain prophetic events which must be fulfilled. These events are prophetic markers that warn believers of the nearness of the end of the prophetic gap of time between the 69th and the 70th sevens of Daniel(indeterminate intermediate period), the so called the timeless period, the Church Age, the Gentile interlude or the Mysterion, and the beginning of the 70th seven itself. In this article, we shall examine these prophetic events in the light of our times in order to determine the closeness of the commencement of the 70th seven of Daniel.
(1)The Return Of Jews To The Land Of Israel In Unbelief.
For the 70th week of Daniel to be fulfillled, Jews must be back in Eretz Yisrael, the land which God gave them and their forebears. “Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and the Holy City of Jerusalem”(Dan. 9:24). Sixty-nine weeks are now history. We live in the prophetic gap of time between the 69th and the 70th sevens. The Scriptures also promise the regathering of the Jews to the land of Israel in unbelief prior to the commencement of the 70th seven.
”And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whether the Lord thy God had driven thee,…… And the Lord thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and He will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers. And the Lord thy God will circumcise thy heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live. And the Lord thy God will put all these curses upon thine enemies, and on them that hate thee, which persecute thee. And thou shalt return and obey the voice of the Lord, and do all his commandments which I command thee this day. And the Lord thy God will make thee plenteous in every work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, for good: for the Lord will again rejoice over thee for good, as He rejoiced over thy fathers:”(Deut.30:1, 5-8).
The sequence of events as foretold in this passage of is of utmost importance. First, verse 1 speaks of blessings and curses which would come upon the Jews in Eretz Yisrael as they obey or flout the commandments of the Lord, and their global dispersion, the diaspora as a consequence of their disobedience. Secondly, in verse 5, their physical restoration to the land of Israel is promised. Thirdly, their spiritual restoration is promised in verse 6. Fourthly, in verse 7, the defeat of their enemies by the God of Israel is promised. Fifthly, a future is referred to, when all Israel shall obey the commandments of the Lord their God. And lastly, a future time of prosperity that will come to the land and people of Israel, a consequence of their obedience to the commandments of God. This future time is of course synonymous with the Millennial Reign of their Messiah, Jesus the Christ our Lord.
This sequence of events is reflected in the prophet Ezekiel’s prophecy of the restoration of Israel:
”For I will take you from amongst the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, and I will cleanse you. And a new heart will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my judgments and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.”(Ezek.36:24-26).
It is clear from this passage that Israel will return to the land in unbelief. A lot of human efforts go into this regathering, but clearly the hand of the Lord is behind it. The modern State of Israel was established in the spirit of self-reliance, strategy and industry and alliances of the Jewish people. After its return to the land, Israel will need cleansing from sin and purification of heart. Again this will be by the handiwork of the Lord. After the Holocaust of the Second World War, Israel returned to the land in sinfulness and unbelief, as dry bones(Ezek.37:11). Some of the early pioneers were atheists. Some even practised Buddhism. Although Israel has experienced successes in military, economy, Science and technology, and indeed every area of human endeavors, and has contributed immensely, out of proportion to the paucity of her number, to the betterment of the human condition, this is by no means near the promised prosperity in the Millennium. Whereas the present successes of Israel are seen in the spirit of self-reliance, their increases in the Millennium will be clearly seen as the handiwork of God.
(2) The Re-establishment Of The State Of Israel.
Israeli Soldiers Praying At The Wailing Wall
Following the destruction of the Jewish Temple on Mount Moriah in 70 AD, Jews were scattered all over the world, the so called diaspora. After the Bar Kochba Revolt(132-135 AD), Jerusalem was ploughed with yokes of oxen, rebuilt, renamed Aelia Capitolina, by Roman Emperor Hadrian and Jews were barred from it under the pain of death. For nearly two millennia, the land of Israel lay desolate. The hope of recreating a Jewish state in Palestine was like a nebulous dream. Although there was never a time when there were no Jews in the land of Israel, even in Jerusalem, they were no longer in control of the land.They were in the minority.
Several powerful kingdoms ruled over the land. There was The First Arab Period, The Umayad, The Crusaders, The Second Arab Period, The Mamalukes, the Abbasids etc. For four hundred years, the land of Israel was ruled by the Ottoman Turks(1517-1917 AD), until defeated by the British general Edmund Allenby in 1917 during the First World War.
During the Enlightenment, Jews in Europe were assimilated into the European nations in which they lived. The Enlightenment worked better in western European nations like Germany, Austria, France. Theodor Herzl, the Austrian Jew reputed to be the father of the modern state of Israel was an assimilated Jew. What roused his passion for a Jewish homeland in Palestine was the Dreyfus Affair in France. Theodore Herzl was a journalist covering the Dreyfus Affair in France for an Austrian newspaper. Captain Alfred Dreyfus was an officer in the French Army who was falsely accused of espionage. Dreyfus was a Jew. During the trial, Herzl saw the antisemitism to which Jews were subjected in Europe, and decided that the best thing for the Jews was to seek an independent homeland of their own. At a stage, Britain offered Uganda to the Zionists which was soundly rejected.
The movement to establish a national home for Jewish people is called Zionism. The first Zionist Congress was held in Berzl, Switzerland, in 1897. It was organized by Theodor Herzl and his bosom friend, a psychiatrist, Max Naudor. Their efforts created a reawakening amongst Jews especially in Eastern Europe and Russia to return to their ancestral homeland. Before the first Zionist Congress, Theodor Herzl published a pamphlet, “The Jewish State.” After the First Zionists Congress, he wrote: ” Today I have established the Jewish state. In five years, perhaps fifty,…..” That was prophetic. In exactly fifty year, in 1947, the UN voted in favour of partition of British Mandate Palestine between its Jewish and Arab residents. At the end of the Bristish Mandate, on 14th May, 1948, Israel became independent under the leadership of David Ben Gurion. Unfortunately, Theodor Herzl never lived to see the creation of the Jewish State, for he died at the age of 44 in 1904. At the creation of the Jewish State, his bones were reinterned in Jerusalem on Mount Herzl.
The Balfour Declaration, 2nd November, 1917.
After the First World War, the British government through its foreign secretary Lord Balfour, favoured the Establishment of Jewish homeland in Palestine with the famous Balfour Declaration, in recognition of the role of Chaim Weizmann and other Jews in support of the British war effort during the First World War. Dr Chaim Weizmann was a Jewish chemist, a professor of chemistry at Manchester University who provided the British with synthetic acetone from corn for the manufacture of cordite gunpowder. Dr Chaim Weizmann later became the president of the Zionist Congress and the first president of the state of Israel.
Prior to 1948, one of the barriers to the emergence of the antiMessiah was the absence of a Jewish State. Today a unified Israel, not a divided Kingdom(Ezek.37:15-28), stands tall in the comity of nations. It has sterling contributions to humanity. The Israelis built the first cell phone, and the Intel mother board used in computers all over the world. Little Israel has the highest start-up per capita in the world. Israeli dairy farmers produce one of the most proteinacious milk in the world, second only to Holland. Israel is a leading power in solar energy. An Israeli Jew Simcha Blass and his son, Yeshayahu, invented the plastic emitter in drip irrigation which enables farming in the Negev desert, and has been adopted by many third world countries. Jews were involved in the Manhattan Project that developed the first atomic bombs dropped at two Japanese cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki that lead to the end of the Second World War. An exhaustive enumeration of the contribution of Jews and Israel to humanity is beyond the scope of this article. Suffice it to say we are blessed to have Israel as an independent State in our day and age.
(3)The Jewish Regain Of Control Of Jerusalem.
The events of the 70th seven of Daniel are centred on the land of Israel and her Holy City, Jerusalem. The 70-week prophecy of Daniel concerned Israel and her Holy City, Jerusalem.
”Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and the prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy”(Dan.9:24).
The starting point of the 70 sevens of Daniel was the promulgation and issuance of the decree of Arterxerxes Longimanus to restore and rebuild the Jewish Holy City Jerusalem(Nehemiah. 2:5). According to Sir Robert Anderson, this decree was issued in445 BC.
”Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandments to restore and rebuilt Jerusalem unto the Messiah The Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times”(Dan.9:25).
The First Advent of the Messiah was in relation to the land of Israel and the Holy City of Jerusalem. Several significant events in the life and ministry of our Lord Jesus The Christ, took place in and around Jerusalem: His birth and annunciation took place in Bethlehem close by. He was presented to God in the Temple in Jerusalem as The Lord commanded Moses(Luke. 2:23,24). He attended the Jewish feasts of Passover and Hanukkah in the Temple in Jerusalem (Jon. 2:13, 7:2). In Jerusalem, twice, both at the beginning and end of His ministry, He chased away those who were buying and selling in the Temple. He overturned the tables of the money changers and those who sold doves(Jon.2:14,15).
At the pool of Bethesda, in Jerusalem, He healed the paralytic(Jon.5:1-16). At the pool of Siloam, He restored sight to the man that was born blind(Jon.9: 1-41). At the outer court of the Temple, He dialogued with Nicodemus(Jon.3:1-21). His passion and agony in the Garden Of Gethsemane, arrest, trial, crucifixion, burial and resurrection, ascension took place in and around Jerusalem(Matt.26-28; Mk.14-16; Luk.22-24; Jon.18-24). In the Temple, He gave The Temple Mount Discourse to His disciples(Matt.23,23). On the Mount Of Olives, He gave the Olivet Discourse(Matt 25; Mk.13; Luk.21). He ascended to Heaven from the Mount of Olives overlooking the Temple Mount in Jerusalem(Acts 1:9), and the angels of God promised He would come back in like manner as His disciples saw Him go into heaven(Acts 1:10,11; cp, Zach.14:1-4). In the light of these Scriptures, repossessing the city of Jerusalem by the Jewish people is strategic to and a very important prophetic marker of the approaches of the End Times.
Following the destruction of the Jewish Temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem by the Roman general Titus in 70 AD, Jews were scattered all over the Globe, the so called Diaspora. After the Bar Kochba rebellion in 136 AD, the Roman Emperor Hadrian rebuilt Jerusalem, renamed it Aelia Capitolina, barred Jews from entry into the city under the pain of death. Although there had not been any time when there were no Jewish presence in Jerusalem, Jews were not in the majority and in control of the city of Jerusalem for nearly two millennia. At the end of the British Mandate over Palestine, Jews lost control of Jerusalem to Jordan, at the end of the War Of Independence. It was not until after the Six-day War in 1967 that the State of Israel gained full control of Jerusalem, and declared it its eternal capital to the consternation and confusion of the Palestinians and Arabs, and the nations of the world. The US under the presidency of Donald J. Trump has relocated its embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv after recognizing it as the eternal capital of Israel, the first nation so to do in modern times, since Israel regained its independence in 1948.
As we have pointed out earlier, because the 70-weeks prophecy of Daniel deals with the people of Israel, and thy Holy City, the prophecy of the 70th week could not be fulfilled until the Jewish people take control of the land of Israel, at least in part, and regain control of the Holy City of Jerusalem. It is obvious from the Scriptures that Israel will not regain full control of the whole land God promised their fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the extent of the land reigned over by King David and Solomon, his son and successor: for God will punish the nations for parting His land which He gave to the children of Israel by a covenant of salt(Joel 3:2). The Jews are now in control of the land of Israel, at least, in part; in full control of her Holy City Jerusalem. This barrier was removed in 1967, paving the way for the Second Advent of our Lord, Jesus The Christ.
(4) The Rebuilding Of The Third Temple.
In the history of Israel, every period of the kingdom is associated with a temple in Jerusalem. The period of the kingdom from the institution of the monarchy to the carrying away into captivity in Babylon is referred to as the First Temple Period or simply the First Temple(1080-586 BC). This period of the kingdom is associated with the temple built by King Solomon. This temple was destroyed by King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon in 586 BC.
After 70 years in exile in Babylon, the Jews were freed by the decree of Cyrus the Persian in 538 BC, according to the words of Jeremiah the prophet(Ezra 1:1-4; Jer.25:12, 29:10). Thus began the Second Temple Period or simply the Second Temple(538 BC-70 AD). By 515 BC, the returning exiles had completed the Second Temple. This temple, located on the same site as the first was extensively and lavishly refurbished by Herod the Great. It was this temple that was in existence during the life and ministry of our Lord Jesus The Christ. This temple was destroyed by the Roman general Titus in 70 AD as prophesied by the prophet Daniel and reiterated by our Lord Jesus The Christ in His Olivet discourse, thus ending the second Temple Period(Dan. 9:27; Matt.24:1,2).
As we have pointed out earlier, each period of the kingdom corresponds to a temple. The modern state of Israel was established in 1948 following the end of the British Mandate over Palestine. Up to now, there is no Temple. Despite the absence of any Temple, the Jews refer to this period of the kingdom as Third Temple Period or simply the Third Temple(1948-end of the 70th week of Daniel, which corresponds with the death of the two witnesses of Rev.11). During the Yom Kippur War, when Israel was almost annihilated by her Arab neighbors, the then Defense Minister of Israel, the legendary one-eyed general, Moshe Dayan said, “The Third Temple is over.” Up to now as at that time, there was no Temple. Yet this period of the kingdom without a king is referred to as the Third Temple.
”For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim: Afterwards shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king ; and shall fear the LORD and His goodness in the latter days”(Hos.6:4,5).
Today Israel is an independent state in the comity of nations, but it is without a king. There is no high priest with an ephod and teraphim, no umim and no thumim, and no sacrifice because there is no Temple. During the Day Of The Lord, the children of Israel shall return to the LORD their God, and David’s greater Son, our Lord Jesus the Christ shall be king over them, and the High Priest of God. He shall be a priest upon the throne( Zach.6:13).
The major events of the 70th week of Daniel are centred in and around the Jewish Temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem.
”Let no one deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of Sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or worshipped: so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing that he is God”(2 These.2:3,4).
In order for the antiMessiah to make his debut at the Jewish Temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem, where he unveils his identity as dead man come back to life, and displays himself as God, demanding worship of all mortals in the middle of the 70th week of Daniel, a temple must exist on the Temple Mount. Up to now, the Temple Mount is occupied by the Muslim Dome of the Rock, the Golden Dome and the Al-aqsa Mosque.
Prior to the 70th seven or even within the first three and one half years of the 70th seven, the third Jewish Temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem must be erected. This is probably one of the feats of politics the antiChrist will perform that will endear him to the Jewish people. However, it is most likely that after the covenant of Apostasy is made with the antiMessiah that the Jews will be permitted to rebuild their Temple, though we must remind ourselves, that the rebuilding of the temple is not mentioned as one of the major events in the first three and one-half years of the 70th seven of Daniel. The scriptures are not precise when the third Temple shall be rebuilt, but there ain’t too many options. It is either prior to the 70th seven of Daniel, or in the first three and one-half years; for a temple must of necessity be standing, and animal sacrifice and meal offering resumed prior to the midpoint of the 70th seven when the Man of Sin is revealed, and the sacrifice and oblation caused to cease.
The Temple Mount, is the most expensive piece of property on Earth today. As a matter of fact, it is not up for sale or grabs. Jews, Muslims, christians and the international community are interested in it. There is a lot of controversy surrounding this piece of real estate. When Israel wrestled control of Jerusalem from Jordan in 1967, the then defense minister of Israel, Moshe Dayan returned the key to the Temple Mount to the Muslim Waqf as gesture of good will. What a costly mistake. Unfortunately Jews are not even allowed to pray on the Temple Mount. Those who move their lips are arrested.
The real issue however is the location of Holy Of Holies of the temple. Studies by Asher Kaufman indicate that it is not under the Dome Of The Rock, but a little further northwest of the mosque, under the Dome of the Tablets, a location directly west of the Eastern or Golden Gate. It therefore means the Jews could rebuild their Temple on the site of Solomons Temple while the Dome of the Rock is still standing. If that is the case, the Muslim Dome of the Rock is in the outer court. This may be what is meant by the angel’s instruction to John the revelator, not to measure the outer court of the temple.
”And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for is given unto the Gentiles: and the Holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months “(Rev. 11:1,2).
Forty and two months is three and one-half years which is the length of the second half of the 70th week of Daniel, the time allotted to the antiChrist to reign and the two witnesses to minister. The ministry of the two witnesses is concurrent, co-incident, and simultaneous with the reign of the antiMessiah.
“And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.”)Rev.11:3-4 KJV).
“And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.”(Rev.13:5-6 KJV.
In the light of this understanding, it may be possible for the Jews to rebuild their Temple at the shortest notice without tampering with Muslim Dome Of The Rock. All the materials for the rebuilding of the temple have been procured and prefabricated. Over $100 million dollars have been raised for the rebuilding of the temple. Priests of the family of Aaron and levites have been identified by DNA tests, trained, and are rehearsing and doing test runs, on the wings, waiting to resume Temple worship and animal sacrifice, grain offering and the pouring of libations(drink offering) at a moment’s notice. Vigorous search is being made for the red heifer. Several have been identified but disqualified by a few strands of black or white hair. Recently a pure red heifer was found. Crowd funding is being used to raise money for the cloning of red heifers. When this is successful, there will be no lack of red heifers. The Golden Altar Of Incense has been reconstructed, the Sanhedrin, the Jewish counsel of 70 elders has been reconstituted, and a Cohen Gadol appointed.
It is possible that an entire Temple may not be built, but only a tabernacle-like structure that could be erected quickly to provide a place for worship and animal sacrifice, not unlike the temporary structure called the tabernacle which Moses erected in the wilderness. Greek scholars tell us that the Greek word used to describe the temple the antiChtist will desecrate at the midpoint of the 70th seven permits such a view. At any rate, a place of sacrifice is not necessarily a precursor to the 70th seven of Daniel, and in reality may not be built until shortly before the midpoint of the 70th seven of Daniel.The Scriptures did not tell us when the sacrifice and the oblation will begin, but that they will be terminated at the midpoint of the 70th week of Daniel.
There is also the question of the Ark Of Covenant. The Ark Of Covenant must also be found and returned to the Holy Of Holies of the Rebuilt Third Jewish Temple on Mount Moriah, Jerusalem; another supposedly or seemingly insurmountable odd. Where is it? Must it be restored to the Holy Of Holies in order to restore Temple worship and resume animal sacrifice? There are a number of speculations as to its location: an underground vault at the Temple Mount, spirited away to Ethiopia before the Babylonian invasion, France etc. Will a new one be constructed? Yes, a new Ark can be constructed. But what about its original contents like the two tablets of the Ten Commandments written with the finger of God, the pot of Manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded which are irreplaceable if lost?
(5) The Establishment Of The Three-Nation Coalition.
”After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it had ten horns. I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things”(Dan.7:7,8).
The ten horns
We can see here that there are ten horns. Horns signify power and authority. In Rev.13:1, the ten horns have ten crowns. The crowns signify that they are sitting or reigning kings. The little horn which is diverse from the ten was not one of the original ten. The tittle horn has eyes which signify intelligence. It has a mouth and spoke great things. So this little horn is human after all. It spoke boastful words and blasphemed the God of Heaven and the Heaven-dwellers. This little horn is the antiMessiah. The little horn is one of the appellatives of the antiChrist.
The little horn was so powerful that it overthrew three of the original ten horns. Since these horns are sitting kings, contemporaneous, it therefore means that the antiMessiah shall overthrow three of the original kings and replace them with his own puppets. Obviously these three original kings were not in agreement with his plans and purposes, hence their dethronment. Remember that this little horn does not directly rule any one of these three nations, but rather is the overall head of the ten nation confederation. This agrees with words of the Scriptures in Ezek.38:2; for Gog, of the land of Magog, is the head of Meshech and Tuval. As we have pointed out earlier on in our previous article on the Eighth And Final Beast Empire Of Satan, these two peoples groups who constitute Magog, Meshech and Tuval, the Germans and the Russians do not naturally agree. So, it will take a powerful and ruthless leader like the antiChrist to unite them.
With the exception of Russia itself, nearly all the eastern European countries which were part of the former Soviet Union are now part of the EU. Europe and North America are one already. Add to that Russia, one has a very formidable military alliance.
”And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no Kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast”(Rev.17:12,13).
These ten kings are contemporaneous with the antiChtist. They have unity of mind and purpose. They give their power and strength unto the beast who is the same as the little horn. We see why three of the original ten horns were overthrown. They did not have unity of mind and purpose with antiChtist. So they were replaced with pliable puppets. We can see that the overthrow of these three Kings or leaders of Magog, Meshech and Tuval, by a very powerful politician from Magog which is Germany, and their replacement with malleable puppets from the same, will be one of the major pre-70th week events. It will be a major event that will make headlines, a breaking news.
We must also remember that people of Germanic extraction are found not only in Germany, but also in Austria, in the Silesia region of Poland, in the Sudetenland in the Czech Republic, and Russia, south and west of Moscow. The Franks too are of Germanic descent, so also are the Anglus and the Saxons whose ancestors came from Lower Saxony in Bavaria, Germany. So, this great leader of Germanic extraction could emerge from any one of these areas. Adolf Hitler was originally from Austria, and became a German citizen. So the antiMessiah could come from any one of these areas. In identifying the antiChrist, what matters is not necessarily geography but ancestry. It is this extremely powerful and ungodly military leader, the antiChtist incognito, the worst Jews-hater of all times, that will sign a seven-year peace agreement with Israel that will mark the commencement of the 70th seven of Daniel. This will be a major event that will make headlines. So we believers in Jesus the Messiah, must be watchful, even as we are faithful and prayerful, in order that we may observe these significant End Time Events when they occur, in order that they may not come upon us unawares.
Summary
The first three events(1-3) have been accomplished. What remains are the last two events(4,5), rebuilding of the Third Temple and the establishment of the three nation coalition. These two events can happen literally overnight. We must be watchful so that we can notice when these two events happen. Once the three nation coalition is established, the 7-year peace agreement between Israel and her Arab and Islamic neighbors to be brokered by the antiChrist can take place at any moment(Dan.9:27). And once the covenant is brokered, the 70th week of Daniel has begun.
“And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done. Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all. But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces: and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things. Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for gain. And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over. He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon. He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape. But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps. But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many. And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.”(Daniel 11:36-45).
The KJV translation did well in capitalizing the first letter of the word God in this passage. In the other occurrences of the word God in this passage, the first letter should not have been captitalized, for it it does not refer to the God of Israel. The Hebrew word el(singular; plural: elohim) is generic, and could refer to the Yahweh of Judah, the God of Israel, the idols of the nations as well as important human personalities(Gen.1:1; Exod.20:3, 22:28). The antiChrist who is spoken of here will be indwelt and empowered by Satan.
“And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.”(Rev.13:2).
Therefore, the antiChrist will be a Satanist. The god he will honor is Satan whom he will secretly worship. The antiChrist will be possessed, indwelt and taken over by Satan from the midpoint of the 70th week when he is cast down to the Earth by archangel Michael(Rev.12:7-9). It will be eschatologically jingoistic for any biblical scholar to infer from this passage that the antiChrist will be a Jew who will not worship the Elohim of his fathers, the God of Israel.
The Edomites
That verses 36-40 speak of the career of the antiChrist, biblical scholars are agreed. From verse 40, The king of the South and the king of the North, fade up with his oppressive rule begin to attack him. But he is too powerful for them and unstoppable. My question is if the antiChrist were the king of the North as some teach, how come he is attacked by the king of the North? The king of the North mentioned in this verse, who is he? The cardinal points referred to here are relative to the land of Israel. The north of Israel is vast area stretching from Europe to Asia. Any army invading the land of Israel from this vast area could have been described by the prophet as coming from the north of Israel. He would not have gone into details using such precise terms of location like northwest, northeast, etc., as we do today. In verse 41, we see the antiChrist invading the Holy Land described by the prophet as the glorious land. He spares Edom, Moab, and Ammon. These ancient kingdoms correspond to modern day Jordan. They are most probably allied to him. Some suggest they are neutral, but that is unlikely because, they shall be severely punished by Christ in the Day Of The Lord for their cruelty towards the sons of Jacob.
“For thy violence against thy brother Jacob shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off for ever. In the day that thou stoodest on the other side, in the day that the strangers carried away captive his forces, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even thou wast as one of them. But thou shouldest not have looked on the day of thy brother in the day that he became a stranger; neither shouldest thou have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction; neither shouldest thou have spoken proudly in the day of distress. Thou shouldest not have entered into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity; yea, thou shouldest not have looked on their affliction in the day of their calamity, nor have laid hands on their substance in the day of their calamity; Neither shouldest thou have stood in the crossway, to cut off those of his that did escape; neither shouldest thou have delivered up those of his that did remain in the day of distress. For the day of the Lord is near upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head.”(Obadiah 1:10-15).
The Edomites are descendants of Esau(Gen.25:30, 33:16, 36:6-9), Jacob’s twin brother(Gen.25:19-34). The Moabites and Ammonites are the descendants of Lot(Gen.13:1-13,19:30-38), Abraham’s nephew(Gen.11:27, 12:4) through inadvertent incestuous relations with his two daughters in the third degree of inebriation. So, these peoples are related to the Jews by blood. The other side spoken of here is the east bank of the Jordan River. During the Babylonian invasion of Judah in 586 BC, the Edomites, the Moabites and the Ammomites were allies of king Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. There shall be a reapeat performance in the last days during the invasion of the land of Israel by the antiMessiah during the Jerusalem and the Jehoshaphat Campaigns, and the Battle of Armageddon. How do we know that? Because it is written:
“For the Day of the Lord is near upon all the heathen, as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own heads.”
Though there was a partial fulfillment of this prophecy in the days of king Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, it shall be fully fulfilled during the reign of the antiChrist in the latter days or better still at the end of time. Jordan has sovereignty over the Temple Mount. During the Yom Kippur in 1967, Israel regained the Temple Mount from Jordan, and gave control to the Muslim Waqf as gesture of goodwill. The Jews shall rebuild their Temple on the Temple Mount after regaining sovereignty over the Temple Mount after the peace agreement with the antiChrist is ratified. The Jordanians shall be part of the invading armies of the antiChrist. They shall participate in the violation of the precincts of the Holy Temple, and the spoilation of its treasures. They will mount roadblocks, apprehend the sons of Jacob who escape the invading armies of the antiChrist, kill some, and hand over the escapees of judah to the armies of the antiMessiah. God will plead with them to accommodate the escapees of Judah because the extortioner and the oppressor who is the antiChrist is at hand, but they would not. At the start of the Great Tribulation, the 144,000 from the twelve tribes of Israel, and other Jews, both observant and unobservant, and Christians who refuse the mark of allegiance to the Beast, shall seek refuge in the red rose city of Petra in the Edomite wilderness which is in modern day Jordan as also did Christians during the Jewish Revolt under Roman domination(66-74 AD).
“For it shall be, that, as a wandering bird cast out of the nest, so the daughters of Moab shall be at the fords of Arnon. Take counsel, execute judgment; make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday; hide the outcasts; bewray not him that wandereth. Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab; be thou a covert to them from the face of the spoiler: for the extortioner is at an end, the spoiler ceaseth, the oppressors are consumed out of the land.”(Isaiah 16:2-4).
Here the antiChrist is referred to as the spoiler, the extortioner and the oppressor. How else would he finance his vast armies of ten nation confederation other than by looting the treasuries and treasures of conquered nations. In his invasion of Israel, he shall be assisted by the Jordanians which is the reason they shall be spared invasion by him. But the God of Israel will punish them for their cruelty towards their brethren, the Jews. During the Day Of The Lord’s wrath, the Edomites shall be as wondering birds cast out of their nest at the fords of Arnon because of their refusal to show kindness to the sons of Jacob. A memorial fire shall burn in Edom, a symbol of their utter destruction throughout the Millennium. It shall not be rebuilt nor inhabited after Armageddon. The prophet Obadiah said that their dealings will return upon their own head. And the prophet Ezekiel said:
“Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me saying, son of man, set thy face against mount Seir, and prophesy against it, and say unto it, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O mount Seir, I am against thee, and I will stretch out mine hand against thee, and I will make thee most desolate. I will lay thy cities waste, and thou shall know that I am the LORD. Because thou hast had a perpetual hatred, and hast shed the blood of the children of Israel by the force of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time that their iniquity had an end:….”(Ezek.35:1-15).
When does the iniquity of the children of Israel have an end? During the 70th week of Daniel.
“Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.”(Dan.9:24).
The end of the 70th week will bring the iniquity of Israel to an end. Mount Seir refers to the region south of the inheritance of Judah which was inhabited by the Edomites, the descendants of Esau, Jacob’s twin brother. There are those who teach that the Edomites have been wiped out and no longer exist. If they do not exist anymore how are they accused of cruelty to the sons of Jacob by God at the time that their iniquity has an end which is during the 70th week of Daniel? So we conclude that the Edomites of old are the Jordanians of today.
The Lord further declared through the prophet Isaiah: “…..And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree. For my sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of curse to judgment…. It is the Day Of The Lord’s vengeance, and the year of recompensed for the controversy of Zion. And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch. It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it shall be waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever…….”(Is.34:4,5,8-10).
This prophecy has not been fulfilled in antiquity. It shall be fulfilled in the Day Of The Lord’s Vengeance which is during the Day Of His Wrath. Idumea is the Greek version of Edom. There has not been any time in history when the land of Edom was turned into pitch, not when they were sacked by the Nabatean Arabs nor conquered by the Hasmonean king John Hyrcanus(135 BC).
The prophet Jeremiah added his voice to the horror that shall be Edom:
“For I have sworn by myself, saith the Lord, that Bozrah shall become a desolation, a reproach, a waste, and a curse; and all the cities thereof shall be perpetual wastes. Also Edom shall be a desolation: everyone that goeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all the plagues thereof. And as in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbouring cities thereof, saith the LORD, no man shall abide there, neither shall son of man dwell in it”(Jer.49:13,17,18).
There is no record in antiquity of the punishment of Edom like that of Sodom and Gomorrah with fire and brimstone or sulphur. We have seen that the prophets are unequivocal in prophesying about the destruction of Edom. Bozrah was the capital city of Edom in ancient times. God will make Edom an eternal example for the nations of the world to see. Because of his hatred and violence toward his brother Jacob, he shall be covered with shame. The land shall be made a burning pitch. It shall not be quenched night or day. Its smoke shall go up for ever and ever. When the nations of the world shall be assembled in the Millennium, no noble man from Edom shall be found(Is.34:12). The land of Edom shall be the habitation of wild beasts of the deserts and the islands. All the carnivorous birds of the air shall lodge in the ruins of Edom. The scavengers shall find habitations in the ruins of Edom. The land of Edom shall be overgrown with thorns, nestles and brambles, and it shall become the habitation of dragons and a court for owls(Is.34:13-15).
Egypt
Because Egypt is not allied to the antiChrist, the antiChrist shall invade Egypt and loot her archeological, artworks, and other treasures. He shall be supported by the Libyans and the Cushites(Sudanese). These two African nations are Islamic and are part of his ten nation coalition of the Eighth And Final Beast Empire as also shown by the prophet Ezekiel(Ezek.38:5).
“Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:”(Ezek.38:5).
Ezek.38:6 tells us that Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee. “Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee.”(Ezek.38:6). PFrom the table of nations in Gen.10, we can see that Gomer is one of the sons of Japheth as also Magog(Germanic peoples), Madai(Medes, Kurds), Javan(Greece), Meshech and Tuval(White Russia), Tiras(Persia, Iran). Togarmah is the son of Gomer, and therefore the grandson of Japheth the elder. Togarmah is of the house of Gomer, and they are located north of Israel which is Turkey and perhaps Azerbaijan. If a nation north of Israel is allied to the antiChrist, does this prove that the antiChrist is from Turkey and therefore the king of the North? In Dan.11:44, the antiChrist is infuriated by invasions from the East and the North.
Turkey shall be invaded by a coalition of nations from the North because of its alliance to the antiChrist. Therefore, with great fury, the antiChrist shall utterly destroy them and take many captive. There shall be no army that shall match the ferocity of Magog, Meshech, and Tuval. They are the most sophisticated, with the latest in military technology. They are the power base of the antiChrist. At the commencement of his military and leadership career, he shall overthrow the three rulers of these three peoples and appoint puppets in their steads. This coup d’etat may be military or else political gerrymandering in which they are voted out of government by the majority. There will always be ten kings. The antiChrist is the eleventh horn(the little horn) and the overall leader or the Emperor of the Eighth And Final Beast Empire(The Fourth Reich).
“I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things. And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.”(Dan.7:8, 24).
Biblical scholars are agreed that the antiChrist is the little horn which has eyes which signal intelligence and a mouth speaking blasphemy against the God of Heaven. Far more than Alexander the Great of Macedon, and Napoleon of France, he is shall be a military genius. By the use of the word subdue, it is likely these three kings shall be forced out of power. Dan.11:45 speaks of the antiChrist relocating his headquarters from the land of Magog to Jerusalem, the glorious Holy Mountain between the two seas, the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River which empties into the Lake of Asphaltes which is the Dead Sea. This transfer occurs at the midpoint of the 70th week of Daniel when he makes his debut at the Rebuilt Third Jewish Temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem. This is the abomination of desolation of Dan.9:27, and the revelation of the Man Of Sin spoken by Apostle Paul in 2 Thess.2:3,4. Three and one-half years later he shall meet his Waterloo at Armageddon(Rev.19:20,21).
In this passage of Daniel 11 under investigation, we have seen the king of the South, the king of the North, and the kings of the East, but there is no mention of the king of the West. Whatever happened to the king of the West? Does it mean that the whole of Western Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand will not be involved in this Final conflict? Will NATO disintegrate before this time? Will America and Western Europe vanish from the Earth before the 70th week of Daniel? I leave the reader to answer these questions.
The Kings of The East
As touching the invasion from the East, the Scroll of Revelation gives us more insight.
“And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.”(Rev.16:12).
At the outpouring of the sixth bowl judgment, the waters of the Euphrates River that empty into the Persian Gulf will be desiccated making way for the kings of the East. What does this tell us? Unlike the other regions of the world, the East shall not be united. Therefore there shall be more than one king. This is not difficult to understand because the major powers in this region of the world have major ideological, ethnic, and religious differences. India is Hindu in religion and democratic in government. China on the other hand is Confusian and Buddhist in religion and communist in government. Pakistan is Islamic in religion and practices pseudodemocracy. If we include Japan, we see that it is Shintoistic and Toistic in religion and democratic in government. Besides, they are ethnically diverse. The Chinese are Hamitic in the ancestry. The Indians and Pakistanis are Indo-European and Japhethic in ancestry. These are the reasons why there is no unity amongst the kings and peoples of the East. They are rival kings and kingdoms with different and divergent religious and ideological bases. They are suspicious of one another. Right now there is a face off between India and China. There is a lot of controversy over the ownership of islands in the South China Sea between China and its neighbors.
The King Of The West
Now as touching the West, all the nations have judeochristian base, and practice one form of democracy or the other. As at now, they are moving away from judeochristian base to postchristian due to their philosophy of humanistic evolution. The antiChrist will be a secular humanist. And the ultimate form of democracy however, is dictatorship. And the antiChrist will be the ultimate dictator. Ultimate dictatorship has been mirrored by Antiochus Theos Epiphanes of Greek Syria in the late second century BC(178-164), and Adolf Hitler of Nazi Germany(The Third Reich) in the first half of the 20th century AD(1933-1945), both of whom were of western descent. Adolf Hitler was a Magogite(Germanic), whilst Antiochus IV Epiphanes was of Javan(Greek). Both of these two world rulers were ardent persecutors of the sons of Jacob. So far, Adolf Hitler, of cursed memory, has the worst record. The antiChrist however, shall be the superlative and ultimate antisemite, and the worst persecutor of the sons of Jacob.
Magog(Germanic peoples of Europe) are found in Germany, Austria, sudetenland in the Czech Repubilic, Silesia region of Poland, and south and west of Moscow in the Russian Federation. The Anglus and the Saxons who populated England in antiquity came from Lower Saxony in Bavaria, Germany. The original Franks are also Germanic in their ancestry. French and English have their roots in the German language. They are part of the Germanic group of Indo-European languages. All the royal families of Europe originate from the Austragoths or the Visigoths and are linked to one another by marriages. In identifying the sons of Noah after the deluge, what is most important is ethnicity and ancestry not geography. Magog was dominant amongst his brethren and became the natural leader of Meshech and Tuval, who were forefront in pushing out the frontiers of history. They were nomadic. The title Caesar borne by the Roman emperors is the same as the German Kaiser, the White Russian Czar who ruled from Saint Petersburg, and the Iranian Shah.
These are different versions of the same title. Magog, Meshech, and Tuval invaded the plain of Latium where the city of Rome was founded. The patrician families that founded Rome were of Magog, Meshech, and Tuval, mainly Magog. Some of the Roman Caesars had Germanicum attached to their names. Anyone who plays down the centrality of Magog in the history and migrations of Europeans has denied the obvious. An ethnic group that led the whole world into two world wars are not pushovers. We must not regard the political indolence of Germany at the moment to mean impotence. They are technologically advanced as any other western nation, and antisemitism is on the rise amongst its youths. With heavy immigration from the Arab and Islamic nations in the Middle East, who can tell what it will turn into in the future!
One more word on Egypt. The king of the South is not Egypt as some affirm though south of Israel. It is clearly stated by the prophet Daniel that the antiChrist shall invade and conquer Egypt and loot her treasures. Egypt will be impoverished, powerless, and politically and militarily esmasculated and impotent. This shall be because Egypt shall be isolated, not part of the Arab league. They shall be neither part of the ten nation confederation of the Eighth And Final Beast Empire(The Fourth Reich) nor allied to it, nor part of the coalition of nations of Africa south of the Sahara. The king of the South that shall attack the antiChrist at the end of time shall most probably be the leader of Africa south of the Sahara. In the end of time, there shall be alliances and coalitions as nations and their rulers see that the antiChrist poses existential threat to them. We should not suppose that the south in the End Times is referent to Egypt only as though God did not know that there would be other inhabitants of the continent of Africa beyond Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia.We have shown from the Scriptures in Daniel 11:36-40 that the antiChrist is not the king of the North as some teachers of biblical prophecy affirm, because the antiChrist is different from the king of the North and was attacked by the king of the North in the time of the end. The king of the North is not Turkey either because Turkey is part of the ten nation confederation of the Eighth Beast Empire of which the antiChrist is the emperor. The other errors we have to refute are the teaching that the antiChrist will be a Muslim from Turkey and that Turkey is the Eighth And Final Beast Empire. From Rev.17, we understand that the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sitteth.
“And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.”(Revelation 17:9-11).
The seven heads are synonymous with the seven mountains. Mountains signify kingdoms. There are seven kings. And kings are synonymous with their kingdoms in the Mideast. It is obvious that the seven mountains mentioned here do not refer to the seven hills on which Rome was founded because these seven hills were not seven kingdoms with seven kings. Actually there were nine hills on which Rome was founded on the Tiber River. These hills are Aventine, caelian, Capitoline, Equiline, Palatine, Quirimal, Veminal, Janiculum, and Pincian. These hills were not kingdoms neither had they heads nor kings. Besides, none of them were world class Empires that negatively impacted Israel. So, the seven mountains do not refer to the seven hills on which Rome was founded, but rather the seven Beast Empires of Satan.
The Ottoman Empire
At the time of writing of the Scroll of Revelation by Apostle John, the apocalyptist, about 96 AD, five kingdoms were history. These were Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medopersia, and Greece(Javan). The one in existence at that time was Rome(Magog, Meshech, and Tuval), the sixth Beast Empire. The one to come which would last for a short time, the seventh Beast Empire was not identified by John. This has led to wild speculations about the identity of this Empire, the Seventh Beast Empire. But this Empire would have certain characteristics by which it could be identified when it appeared on the world stage. Like all the previous six, it would persecute Israel. It is one of the seven heads. Did the Ottoman Empire single out the Jews for persecution as did Rome(Nero, Caligula, Hadrian), Greece(Antiochus Theos Epiphanes) and genocide and annihilation as did Nazi Germany, the Third Reich? No. Current wall of the Old City of Jerusalem was built by the Ottoman Emperor Suleiman the Magnificent. He did not bar Jews from living or owing property in the city unlike the Roman Emperor Hadrian who after the Bar Kochba Revolt(132-135), ploughed Jerusalem with yokes of oxen, rebuilt it and renamed it Aelia Capitolina, and barred Jews from the city under the pain of death(136). There was no genocide of the Jews during the 400 years that the Ottomans reigned over Palestine(1517-1917). Jews lived in the whole Middle East throughout this period. The people singled out for persecution under the Ottoman Empire were Christians, especially Christian Armenia. As a matter of fact, the Ottoman Empire took over Palestine after defeating the Mamluks in 1517. Between 1914 and 1922, the Ottoman Empire liquidated and vaporized 1.5 million Armenians. Their honorable women and ladies were publicly crucified on Crosses stark naked. On the other hand, there is no record that the Jews were singled out for genocide. Did the Ottoman Empire last for a short time? No. It lasted 623 years.
Rome And Byzantium
The two divisions of the Roman Empire, the Western and Easter Roman Empire, the two legs of iron of the statue of king Nebuchadnezzar’s dream were Rome and Byzantium.
“His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise. And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters’ clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken. And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.”(Dan.2:33-35, 40-43).
The capital of the Eastern Roman Empire was Byzantium which was renamed Constantinople in honor of Emperor Constantine. The Eastern Roman Empire is also referred as Byzantium and the period as Byzantine Period. Constantinople is modern day Istanbul in Turkey. The Western Roman Empire with capital in Rome was sacked by the Barbarians who were ethnic Germans from the North, the Visigoths, in 410 AD, and by the Vandals in 455 AD. The Roman Empire in the west formally ended with the deposition of Emperor Romulus Augustulus by Odoacer, a German warlord in 476 AD. Separate rule in the west ended with the death of Julius Nepos in 480 AD. The Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium continued for another 1,000 years until it was overrun by the Ottoman Turks in 1453 AD. The Ottoman Turks, though Indo-European people come from a different stock. Whilst the founders of Rome were Magog, Meshech, and Tuval, mainly Magog, the Ottoman Turks were from Gomer, and Togarmah. They were all of Japhethic extractions. The Ottoman Turks ruled the whole Mid East and Palestine for a period of 400 years from 1517 and became the dominant power in the Mediterranean world until defeated by the British General Allenby in 1917 during the First World War. So, the Ottoman Empire lasted for 623 years, a period that can hardly be described as a short space. Remember that the seventh head which is the seventh Beast Empire and its ruler shall last for a short space. Therefore the seventh Beast Empire shall have only one ruler who would rule for a short period of time. This is the only logical conclusion.
Does the Ottoman Empire fit the bill? No. Walid Shoebet and Joel Richardson have argued that because the Roman Tenth Legion, Legion X Frentensis led by the Roman general Titus was composed mainly of Turkmen and Arabs, it was not Titus who destroyed the Second Jewish Temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem in 70 AD. That when the fire started, Titus gave orders that the fire should be extinguished but the Turkmen and the Arabs who constituted the bulk of the rank and file of his army reneged. (They aught to have been court-marshaled or summarily dismissed from the Roman Army). That may well be true though.
However, it does not change the fact that it was the Roman general Titus who destroyed the second Jewish Temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem in 70 AD. If these soldiers were not Roman citizens, then they were machineries. Every Empire recruited soldiers from conquered people. Those soldiers whatever their ethnicity were maintained by the power that be under whose auspices they fought. This argument is a very weak attempt at best to convince us that the Turks destroyed the Second Jewish Temple on Mount Moriah, and therefore the antiChrist who will take over the Third Jewish Temple on Mount Moriah at the midpoint of the 70th week will be a Muslim from Turkey, the so called Mideast Beast. That is to say that the empire and the head will be revived. This argument begs the question. At that time neither Islam nor the Ottoman Empire was in existence. Even if they did exist at that time, The Second Temple was not destroyed in the name of Islam or the Ottoman Empire. Secondly neither the Turks nor the Arabs descended from Magog, Meshech and Tuval, and therefore could not be the iron in the image of the dream of King Nebuchadnezzar. The onus for the destruction of the Second Jewish Temple on Moriah in Jerusalem rests with the leadership of the Roman army not the rank and file of the Roman army. The people of the The Coming Prince(The antiChrist) is undoubtedly the Roman Army which destroyed the Second Jewish Temple on Mount Moraiah in Jerusalem in 70 AD.
During the First World War, France recruited soldiers from the Francophone African countries as also did Great Britain from the Anglophone African countries. After the war, France stationed some of these black soldiers from Senegal in Africa in the Ruhr, the heavily industrialized region of Germany as a form of humiliation to Germany in order to extract reparations and war endemnity. Shall we therefore say that Africa defeated Germany during the Second World War? Was Africa ever at war with Germany? This kind of argument is very misleading, and therefore untenable. Did the Turks and the Arabs rule over the land of Israel after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD? The answer is a resounding no.
During the scramble for Africa, the Igbos, an ethnic group southeast of Nigeria gave the British a tough time. The British recruited soldiers from the Yorubas, an ethnic group in the southwest of Nigeria, and from the Hausas, an ethnic group from the North of Nigeria to fight and defeat the Igbos. Shall we say that the Yorubas and the Hausas defeated the Igbos? Were the Igbos at war with the Yorubas and the Hausas? Who commanded these Hausa and Yoruba soldiers? White British Army officers. The Igbos were defeated, and colonized by the British. Did the Yorubas and the Hausas rule over the Igbos during the colonial era? No. Who did? The British, period.
The Sixth Beast Empire, the Seventh Beast Empire, and the Eighth Beast Empire have their roots in the iron legs of the image of king Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. The iron we have identified as Magog, Meshech, and Tuval. But the Ottoman Turks and modern day Turkey are from Gomer and Togarmah. Besides the Ottoman Empire did not persecute Israel in exile, neither had it only one ruler nor was it of short duration. The only Empire in history that meets these criteria or qualifications is Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Germany(The Third Reich). The Germans are Magogites. The Third Reich of Adolf Hitler lasted for a very short time of 12 years(1933-1945). So far as history records, Nazi Germany has been the worst persecutor of the sons of Jacob. During the reign of terror by the Nazi dictator, Adolf Hitler, six millions Jews perished in the gas chambers and crematoria all over Eastern and parts of Western Europe, amongst whom were 2 millions Jewish children whose lives were snuffed out in the embryo. One factor that is common amongst the seven Beast Empire of Satan is their hatred and persecution of the sons of Jacob.
Neither Joel Richardson nor Walid Shoebet has emphasized this glaring fact in their identification of the Seventh Beast Empire as the Ottoman Empire. Why? Because it is conspicuously absent. If we say that the Ottoman Empire is the seventh Beast Empire of Satan, what shall we say of Hitler’s Nazi Germany? If the Empire that killed more Jews than any other in history is not one of the seven Beast Empires of Satan, which other Empire has the qualification? It baffles me that these scholars are silent about the role of Nazi Germany, the Fourth Reich, as a Beast Empire of Satan. Is this theological antisemitism or historical revisionism by deliberate omission?
If the Seventh Beast Empire is Magogite, the Eighth Beast Empire which is the revived Seventh Beast Empire must also be Magogite. Kings are synonymous with their kingdoms. If the revived kingdom is Magogite, the revived king also must be Magogite. So the antiChrist, the revived head of the revived Seventh Beast Empire must be Magogite. This logic is borne out by the fact that the prophet Ezekiel identified the antiChrist as Gog of the land of Magog, the head or natural ruler of Meshech, and Tuval(Ezek.38:1,2). In Ezek.38,39, he leads the armies of his ten nation confederation(8 were listed) against Christ at Armageddon. Ezek.38,39 which some scholars isolate as the Gog and Magog war, which according to them, especially the pretribulationists, shall be the final war before the Rapture, is nothing other than the war of Armageddon as Joel Richardson has also expounded. After this war is the rebuilding of the Fourth And Millennial Temple by Christ Himself(Ezek.40-43) on the new elevated and renovated Mount Zion during the 45-day Restoration Period of the kingdom(Dan.12:11,12).
Let me make it clear here that although the Jews have drawn a plan of the Third Temple based on Ezek.40-43, procured materials and raised over $100 millions for the rebuilding of the Third Temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem, they shall not be able to erect a temple of this magnitude in this age. The Third Temple shall be a much smaller structure hastily set up and will last for a brief period of time. Ezek.40-48 is a description of Jerusalem and the land of Israel in the Millennium. Therefore the temple described by prophet Ezekiel in Ezek.40-43 is the Fourth and Millennial Temple built by Christ Himself in the 45-day Restoration Period of the kingdom prior to the commencement of His Millennial Reign or Rulership Of The Kingdom.
The pretribbers say that the Rapture is imminent and can occur at any moment without any prophesied event preceding it, yet they tell us the Gog and Magog war in which Russia and its allies shall invade Israel is the last prophetic event that shall unfold before the Rapture can take place. Is the Gog and Magog war not a prophesied event? They say no prophesied event will precede the Rapture, yet they hold prophecy conferences every week all over North America. What are they prophesying about if no prophetic event will occur before the Rapture? I wonder!If the Ottoman Empire were of Magogite origin, what then is the origin of the Roman Empire? So, the antiChrist cannot come from Turkey.
The antiChrist is an atheist, and so cannot be a Muslim in practice(Dan.11:36-39, 2 Thess.2:4). Some biblical scholars have strictures with that. Muslims are not atheists. The only god that the antiChrist would recognize is the barrel of the gun. He shall be a Chairman Mao; “power belongs to the barrel of the gun.” He shall worship the god of forces, the god of munition. His career begins with overthrow(Dan.7:8,20), and metamorphoses into subtle peace diplomacy and war(Matt.24:5-7;Rev.6:1-4).
He is an ungodly military leader. His demise will occur at the battle of Armageddon. The antiMessiah will be a powerful and extremely ungodly military leader. He will lead his vast armies in the Jerusalem campaign in which he relocates his headquarters from Europe to Jerusalem.
“When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, let him that readeth understand.”(Matt.24:15). “He shall plant the tabernacle of palace between the seas in the glorious Holy Mountain.”(Dan.11:45).
He shall lead his armies in the Jehoshaphat campaign(Joel 3:1,2,9,12-16, Zechariah.14:2). He shall lead his armies at Armageddon(Ezek. 38:4,8,9; Dan.11:38). He will conquer Egypt. He shall go forth conquering and to conquer(Rev.6:2). Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all(Dan.11:37). So the antiMessiah shall be a warrior and a powerful military leader, but an ungodly one for that matter(Ezek.4:8,9; Dan.11:38).
There are really no true atheists. Atheism is a misnomer. Atheism is a religion. Their god is “no-god” which is falsehood, the origin of which is Satanic. So, Satan is the god of all atheists. All atheists are idolaters. All atheists are satanists. Atheism is idolatry. All atheists are pagans. To that extent and in that sense, the antiChrist will be a pagan. Quite frankly he is a secular humanist in public, but secretly he worships Satan who indwells and empowers him, and whom he represents(Rev.13:2), and practices witchcraft as also did Adolf Hitler. Adolf Hitler would say publically there is no God, yet he was a member of a witches and wizards coven. See “The Sword Of Longinus.” The antiChrist shall be the consummate superman which is the end product of secular humanism and evolution.
The Land Of Shinar
Another error that needs be refuted is that the land of Shinar is Mecca in Arabia. The land of Shinar is Babylon which is in modern day Iraq.
“And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.”(Gen.10:10).
If the Tower of Babel, the ancient Ziggurats are in Babylon, and Babylon is in the land of Shinar, how can Mecca be the land of Shinar.
“Then I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a flying roll. And he said unto me, What seest thou? And I answered, I see a flying roll; the length thereof is twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof ten cubits. Then said he unto me, This is the curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole earth: for every one that stealeth shall be cut off as on this side according to it; and every one that sweareth shall be cut off as on that side according to it. I will bring it forth, saith the Lord of hosts, and it shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him that sweareth falsely by my name: and it shall remain in the midst of his house, and shall consume it with the timber thereof and the stones thereof. Then the angel that talked with me went forth, and said unto me, Lift up now thine eyes, and see what is this that goeth forth. And I said, What is it? And he said, This is an ephah that goeth forth. He said moreover, This is their resemblance through all the earth. And, behold, there was lifted up a talent of lead: and this is a woman that sitteth in the midst of the ephah. And he said, This is wickedness. And he cast it into the midst of the ephah; and he cast the weight of lead upon the mouth thereof. Then lifted I up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came out two women, and the wind was in their wings; for they had wings like the wings of a stork: and they lifted up the ephah between the earth and the heaven. Then said I to the angel that talked with me, Whither do these bear the ephah? And he said unto me, To build it an house in the land of Shinar: and it shall be established, and set there upon her own base.”(Zech.5:1-11).
The ephah is a holy measure. A woman in a holy measure is an abomination. The woman in the ephah is Semiramis or Anat, the wife of Nimrod and mother of Tammuz or Osiris. The ephah was taken to its base in the land of Shinar where mother-child worship introduced by Nimrod began. It was Nimrod who founded Babel. It was from Babylon in the land of Shinar that it spread to all other parts of the world after the confusion of languages at Babel. Mother-child worship did not begin in Mecca in Arabia. So, Mecca in Arabia cannot be the land of Shinar. That Islam is the symbol of mother-child worship is true, so also every other false religion. That Mecca is Babylon the Great, the Great Whore of Rev.17,18 is not true, though the spirit of Babylon, the spirit of mother-child worship controls Mecca as it does also Rome and did Pergamos, and the center of every other false religion other than true Christianity. So Rev.17 & 18 are not about Mecca. Neither is it about Jerusalem, for that would mean that the Medes and ten kings of the Eighth Beast Empire shall destroy the headquarters of the antiChrist and the capital city of the His empire.
“And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful. And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.”(Rev.17:12-18).
Jerusalem has never been the headquarters of any religion that reigned over the kings of the Earth. Will the ten kings of the Eighth Beast Empire burn down the capital city of the antiChrist to whom they are allied? The antiChrist shall be in control of Jerusalem until defeated by Christ at the final battle of Armageddon. It is about ancient Babylon which has been rebuilt by Saddam Hussein in modern day Iraq. It shall be the religious and commercial center of the Eighth Beast Empire(The Fourth Reich). With regards to the end time scenario, Saudi Arabia and Mecca are insignificant, irrelevant, and inconsequential. There is no prominence give to Saudi Arabia and Mecca in the End Times. Biblical eschatology is silent about them. It is not proper therefore for us to twist Scriptures to include and give them prominence.
These ministers who hold this opinion are former Muslims or Christian ministers who minister to Muslims. They have seen how deeply seated is the Islamic ideology of world domination. They cannot see Islam playing second fiddle. Is it therefore difficult for God to alter the status quo? We should not interpret biblical prophecy in the light of current affairs, rather current affairs should be viewed through the prism of biblical prophecy. There are many books written on biblical prophecy which became bestsellers in their times. They were based on the geopolitics of their times. They were sensational. They sold millions of copies and their authors made their money. When we pick them up today, what do we see? They are not worth the paper on which they were written. Books on biblical prophecy should have value and normative authority till the end of time. Some books on biblical prophecy which are advocating that the antiChrist is the king of the North, and will be the Mideast Beast, and a Muslim from Turkey or an Assyrian will become irrelevant in the coming decades with changes in the geopolitics of the world. Pleasantly surprising though, the geopolitics of the future will lead to the realignment of nations in such a way as to conform to biblical prophecy as announciated by the statue of the dream of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon in Dan.2 and the four beasts of Dan.7.
That the ten horns of the nondescript Beast are the ten kings of Arabia is also false. Saudi Arabia is not part of the ten nation confederation of the Eighth And Final Beast Empire(The Fourth Reich). The Bible tells us who they are.
“And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.”(Rev.13:2).
According to Dan.7, the lion is Babylon, the leopard is Greece, the bear Medopersia, and the nondescript Beast is Rome.
“The first was like a lion, and had eagle’s wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man’s heart was given to it. And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh. After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it. After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.”(Dan.7:4-7).
The fourth Beast, the composite nondescript ferocious Beast with ten horns is representative of the Sixth Beast Empire(Rome), the Seventh Beast Empire(Nazi Germany), and the Eighth Beast Empire. That was why the fourth Beast could not be represented by a single animal. It was composite and nondescript. The Seventh and the Eighth Beast Empires are subsumed in the Sixth Beast Empire(Roman Empire). They emerged out of the Roman iron root. They are of the same ancestry as Rome. There are some that teach that the Seventh Beast Empire is not represented in Dan.7. However, that assumption is not true. Obviously the ten horns are a representation of the composition of the Eighth Beast Empire. But why is the Fourth Beast a nondescript composite Beast? It is because it composed of more than one Beast. It is a hybrid Beast. There is a reason for whatever God does. All the other Beast Empires were represented by a single clearly identifiable animal, but when it came to Rome, it was represented as a monster of a creature. These three beasts have a common ancestry. This is the only logical conclusion. Even if the Ottoman Empire were of Roman ancestry, which obviously it was not, it would still not qualify as the Seventh Beast Empire because it did not single out the Jews for genocide, neither did it last for a short period of time. The ten horns are the ten kings of Magog, Meshech, and Tuval(nondescript beast; Rome), Javan(Leopard; Greece or Greek Syria), Arphaschard(winged Lion; Babylon or Iraq), Persia(bear; Iran or Tiras). The other four, Put(Libya), Cush(Sudan), Gomer and Togarmer(Turkey) were not represented by beasts simply because they were not Beast Empires[Ezek.38:1-6; Rev.13:2].
The four heads of the leopard are the four divisions of the Greek Empire after the demise of Alexander the Great of Macedon in 323 BC. We can see that neither modern Turkey nor the Ottoman Empire is one of the seven Beast Empires of Satan. After the demise of Alexander the Great of Macedon, Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the seventh ruler of one of the four divisions of the Greek Empire was a persecutor of the sons of Jacob. Alexander himself never persecuted the sons of Jacob. Am inclined to believe that Javan refers to Greek Syria(Seleucid dynasty) of which Antiochus IV Epiphanes was the head, who was also a prefigure of the antiChrist, neither Egypt nor Greece nor Macedonia proper.
Turkey will be part of the ten nation confederation of the Eighth And Final Beast Empire(The Fourth Reich) but not the head neither one of the power base nations of Magog, Meshech, and Tuval. During the Second World War, Turkey was allied to Nazi Germany. Turkey is part of the clay of the ten toes of the image of king Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. The leadership of the ten nation confederation, the Eighth And Final Beast Empire of Satan is in the iron root, not the clay. The nondescript composite ferocious Beast had iron teeth. The life of the Beast is in the iron teeth with which it tears the prey. The iron is the power base of the Beast. The antiChrist must come from the iron base. The life of the Beast is not in the secondary horns. The antiChrist cannot come from the clay. Therefore, the antiChrist cannot come from Turkey nor any of the other six secondary nations. Clay is a mixture of all kinds of substances held together by water. So also the clay in the ten toes of the statue of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream is an admixture of all the sons of Noah after the deluge. All the descendants of Shem, Ham, and Japheth are represented. Those of Hamitic extraction are Put(Libya) and Cush(Sudan). Those of Semitic extraction are Arphaschard(Babylon), and perhaps Greek Syria(mixed). Those of Japhethic extraction are Gomer, Togarmer(Turkey), and Iran(Persia or Tiras). Gomer, Togarmer, and Tiras(Persia) are Indo-European peoples. The only thing that holds these peoples together is the Islamic religion. Joel Richardson has asked the question, if the antiChrist is not a Muslim how is he able to gain the allegiance of Muslims? And I ask why did Saudi Arabia and Kuwait permit Christian US soldiers to enter into their lands and defend them against Saddam Hussein, a Muslim ruler of a Muslim nation? It is a marriage of convenience. It is survival of the fittest. In politics there are no permanent friends, but permanent interests. The Muslims want world domination. They want to establish a global caliphate that will rule the world. The west also want world domination. It is a marriage of convenience. Therefore, they will mingle themselves in the seed of men, but will not cleave to one another.
“And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters’ clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken. And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.”(Daniel 2:41-43).
The Medes
The Medes who were the original founders of the Medopersian Empire will not be part of the ten nation confederation of the Eighth Beast Empire of the antiChrist though they were the architects of the Medopersian Empire. The Kurds of today were the Medes of old. They are descendants of Madai, one of the sons of Japheth(Gen.10:2). Together with the Persians of old, they formed the Medopersian Empire that took over from the neoBabylonian Empire of Nebuchadnezzar II. Their general, Darius the Mede commanded the Medopersian army that conquered Babylon in 539 BC(Dan.5:31). The Iranians of today are the descendants of the Persians of old. The Persians descended from Tiras, one of the sons of Japheth(Gen.10: 2). Both the Kurds and the Persians are of Japhethic extraction. They are not Arabs. They are Indo-European peoples. The Medes of old started the Medopersians Empire about 550 BC before they were joined by the Persians. Once the Persians joined, they dominated the Empire. One of their most popular king was Cyrus, the Persian whose decree in 538 BC ended the Babylonian captivity after 70 years according to the prophecy of Jeremiah of Anathot(Jer.38:20; Dan.9:2).
Medopersia is the Fourth of the seven Beast Empires Satan used to persecute Israel in exile. On the image of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in Dan.2, it is represented by the breasts and arms of silver, and the tilted bear in Daniel’s vision in Dan.7. The Medes are found majorly in four nations in the Mideast. They are in Southern Turkey, northeastern Syria, northwestern Iraq, and southeastern Iran. There are pockets of them in Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. They are agitating for independent kurdistan. In Turkey, they are represented by the PKK, Kurdish Workers Party which has been labeled a terrorist organisation by the Turkish government. The PKK have been fighting for autonomy and independence from Turkey for over 30 years. In Iraq, they enjoy a measure of autonomy. In both Syria and Iraq ISIS enslaved their women and killed their men as did Saddam Hussein who killed their women and children with poison gas in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Their military wing in Iraq, the Pershmager is at war with IS as also in Syria under the umbrella of the YPG. In both the Pershmager and the YPG, Kurdish women fight alongside their men in the war against ISIS. In Syria, their chief city is Korbani which has been devastated by the war with ISIS. An independent Kurdish state will be historically significant. This lies in the fact that the Kurds(Medes) will not be part of the ten nation confederation of the Eighth and Final Beast Empire of Satan over which the antiChrist will rule( Ezek.38:5,6; Rev.13:2, 17:12). But these other nations of which they are a part at the moment, Iran, Iraq, Syria(Greek Syria under the Seleucid dynasty) and Turkey will be. So, the Kurds must gain their independence from these nations in order not to be part of the Eighth Beast Empire of the antiChrist.
Secondly, during the seventh bowl judgment of the Harlot City, the Medes will be the first to attack Babylon(Isa.13:17-19) before it will be finally destroyed by the ten kings of the Eighth Beast Empire under the antiChrist(Rev.17:16,17). The Medes will therefore be allied to the antiChrist. They will be probably permitted by the antiChrist before they can attack the commercial headquarters of his empire. This time, the antiChrist wants to get rid of the Harlot City after it has served her purpose. God will put it in the hearts of the ten kings to get rid of her though they do not think so. The ten kings will be motivated by greed. The Harlot City has garnered her wealth from their subjects after ingratiating herself to the antiChrist by mesmerizing and hypnotising citizens of these nations to worship the Dragon-Beast and his image. The Medes on the other hand will be motivated by vengeance. They will not regard silver and gold. Their eyes will not pity women and children. This will be the cumulative effect of decades of persecution by the Babylonians(Iraqis).
There are also those who claim the antiChrist is the Assyrian. The descendants of the ancient Assyria are found in modern day Iraq. They are few in number and are mainly Christians. They are a persecuted minority in Iraq. They are Semitic people. So if the Assyrians are part of the Eighth And Final Beast Empire, they are part of the clay not the iron. The leadership of the Eighth Beast Empire is from the Iron which is of Roman ancestry(Magog, Meshech, and Tuval). So, the antiChrist cannot be an Assyrian unless of course in a metaphorical sense(Isa.14:25). The Assyrians were known for their cruel treatment of war captives. They acquired notoriety for cruelty and wickedness. It is exegetically unacceptable to twist Scriptures already fulfilled in antiquity to justify our preconceived notions. Assyria was used by God to punish Israel(Isa.10:5). That was in the past. Assyria will never rise up as an Empire or people to dominate the world neither would Babylon nor Egypt nor Greece nor the Medes and the Persians no matter how hard they try. Geopolitical revival is the exclusive preserve of the Roman Iron, the nondescript composite Beast. Saddam Hussein’s efforts to revive the glories of the neoBabylonian Empire under king Nebuchadnezzar II was doomed to failure from the beginning. According to Dan Hayden, Babylon is the Empire that was. So also the efforts of Iranian leadership to rise to the former glories of the Persian Empire by regaining world domination. There is a movement of power amongst the sons of Noah after the flood from Ham to Japheth with which it rests till the end of time. Ham -> Shem -> Japheth
The Seven Beast Empires And Their origins
Ham was the first of the sons of Japhet to establish an empire in history though he was the last born of Noah. That was the Egyptian Empire. From Ham, power moved to the Semitic peoples. Shem was the second son of Noah. They established two empires that impacted Israel negatively, Assyria and Babylon. Although the foundation of the city of Babylon was Hamitic; for Nimrod, a grandson of Ham through Cush was the founder of Babylon, the Sumerians and the Akkadians built the ancient Babylonian Empire. The neoBabylonian Empire of Nebuchadnezzar was founded by the Chaldeans.
The Movement Of Power From Ham To Shem, And Japheth
“And the sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, and Put, and Canaan. And the sons of Cush; Seba, and Havilah, and Sabtah, and Raamah, and Sabtecha: and the sons of Raamah; Sheba, and Dedan. And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.”(Gen.10:6-10).
From the Semitic peoples, power moved to the Japhetic peoples. Japheth was the eldest son of Noah. He had the right of primogeniture which included leadership, priesthood and double inheritance. For unrevealed reason the priesthood went to Shem, but Japheth retained the leadership. Ham was to play a subordinate role because he viewed the nakedness of his father, Noah, in a state of inebriation. Both Ham and Japheth dwell in the spiritual tent of Shem. Salvation is of the Jews(John 4:22). This is the theology of the second;
“He taketh away the first that He may establish the second.”(Heb.10:9). “And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.”
The Hamites introduced idolatry to humanity through Nimrod, the grandson of Noah through Cush. Not all Cushites migrated from Babylon at the confusion of languages at Babel. Some scholars identify the founder of the Assyrian Empire, Sargon the Great with Nimrod the hunter of the souls of men. Nimrod is believed to be a descendant of the Giants who survived the deluge.
“And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.”(Genesis 9:25-27).
The tent spoken of here is spiritual tent, the origin of which is divine and rests in the hands of the sons of Jacob, a Semitic people.
“And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of Canaan. These are the three sons of Noah: and of them was the whole earth overspread. And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard: And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without. And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father’s nakedness. And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him. And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.”(Genesis 9:18-27).
The first of the Japhetites to build an empire were the Medes and the Persian(Medopersia). The Medes(Medai) and the Persians(Tiras) are Indo-European peoples. They descended from Japheth the elder. Next to them were the Greek(Javan). Finally we have the descendants of Magog, Meshech, and Tuval(Rome). Power will remain not only with the sons of Japheth, but with Magog till the end of time. If we do not have this understanding, we shall be beating about the bush by speculating about the ancestry of the Eighth Beast Empire and the antiChrist. This is all revealed in the image of king Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in Dan.2, and the beasts of Daniel’s dream in Dan.7. The iron and the nondescript composite ferocious beast(Rome) prevailed till the end of time. The clay was brought in to assist the Iron. The ten horns developed on the nondescript composite and ferocious beast. And the clay is composed of all the descendants of the three sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. But the iron in the statue of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream which is Rome(Magog, Meshech, and Tuval) will dominate the world till the
End Of The Ages.
If the antiChrist is a Muslim from either Ottoman Empire or Assyria, which kings of these two empires would he be? One outstanding characteristics of the antiChrist is that he will be a man who has ruled one of the seven previous Beast Empires, was killed with a military weapon in battle, descended into the abyss, and shall ascend from the abyss to rule over the Eighth And Final Beast Empire. He shall be recognizable when he unveils himself at his debut at the Rebuilt Third Jewish Temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem, at the midpoint of the 70th week of Daniel.
“And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.”(Rev.13:3). “And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.”(Rev.17:11). “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.”(2 Thess. 2:3-4).
The fact that the antiChrist is a dead man who had ruled one of the seven previous Beast Empires in the past and is come back to life to rule over The Eighth Beast Empire(The Fourth Reich) shall be the most singular fact that shall grant him overwhelmingly influence over the lives of the living wicked earth-dwellers. Even the kings of the other kingdoms of the Earth in existence at that time shall fear him. Therefore he shall have worldwide influence.
“And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”(Rev.13:3-8).
They shall worship the Dragon who gave authority to the Beast, and they shall worship the Beast, saying who is able to make war with him?
“And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?”(Rev.13:4).
Who is like unto him is an expression of wonder because he is a dead man come back to life. He shall be invincible in battle against these other kings. No human king will be able to defeat the antiChrist in battle. The only person that shall defeat him is Christ at the final battle of Armageddon. The antiChrist is not a human spirit. He is a fallen evil angel. He ascends out of the bottomless pit and shall go into perdition.
“And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.”( Rev.11:7).
Why is it that he ascends out of the bottomless pit? It is because he has been there. He had lived before and was killed with a military weapon in battle. This is not something future. It has already happened. He ruled over the Seventh Beast Empire. He was sent there because he is not a human spirit. Human spirits are sent to Hell or Heaven not the abyss. The abyss is the abode of fallen evil angels who did not keep their first estate but in defiance to God’s command to keep men and angels separate, cohabited with human females(Gen.6). They are reserved in chains under darkness waiting for the judgment of the Great Day(Jude 6).
The Muslim nations that shall be allied to the antiChrist shall worship the Dragon as well as the Beast. They shall be idolaters and Satanists as they have always been though they name America as they Great Satan, and Israel the small Satan. Those who claim the antiChrist will be a Mid East Muslim either from Ottoman Empire which modern day Turkey or from Assyria must show us which emperor of one of these two empires he would be who ruled for short time, and was killed with a military weapon in battle, was an ardent persecutor of the sons of Jacob, and will be recognizable at his debut when he unveils himself at the Rebuilt Third Jewish Temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem, as a dead man come back to life, at the midpoint of the 70th week of Daniel. If on the other hand, Nazi Germany(The Third Reich) is the seventh Beast Empire, not the Ottoman Empire, then there is no doubt who its sole leader who reigned for a short space was; Adolf Hitler fits the bill. Admiral Carl Doenitz merely surrendered to the Allies. He shall be recognizable with his characteristic black and formidable mustache when he unveils himself at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. There is a mystery surrounding his death, though he shot himself with a pistol at the Chancellery in Berlin while the Russians were closing in on him. Adolf Hitler is the most recognizable face on television worldwide, and he is not about to give up his position.
Besides, there is another huddle; they must show us that he has iron root(Roman ancestry) and is Gog, of the land of Magog, the head or natural ruler of Meshech, and Tuval(Ezek.38:1,2). Impossible!The antiChrist who is the little horn shall arise out of the nondescript Beast which is Rome. Did the Ottoman Empire come out of Rome? They merely defeated the Easthern Roman Empire or Byzantium.
“These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth. But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever. Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet; And of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows. I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them;”(Dan.7:17-21).
We have to go back to Dan.2 in order to understand that the power base is in the iron and not the clay. The nails were of brass(bronze) which is suggestive of Greece. Javan(Greece) is one of the ten horns of the Eighth Beast Empire. Turkey is one of the seven secondary nations of the Eighth Beast Empire. The Ottoman Empire does not feature at all. It is not one of the Beast Empires. The Ottoman Empire did not have iron root neither did it come out of Rome. The Ottoman Empire did not single out the Jews for persecution and extermination as did Adolf Hitler of Nazi Germany.
Origin Of Mother-Child Worship
That the dispersion of mother-child worship began from Babylon is true, and that the sacred black stone in the Ka’aba in Mecca which Muslim pilgrims kiss is the image of the secrets of Semiramis is also true. That Islam is a monotheistic religion is false. Islam is polytheistic. There are 360 gods in the Arabian pantheon worshipped at the Ka’aba in Mecca by the Quraish tribe. Anat or Semiramis was made the patron deity by prophet Mohammed. She is a female goddess. That she is worshipped as a male deity Allah which is an acrostic from “Al ila” which means the god, is an occultic inversion. Allah is not a personal name but a title. The crescent Moon which is the symbol of Islam is female in Mideast Mythology, and the Sun male. Osiris is the son of Semiramis or Anat. The sons of the gods, their male offspring are the stars(Rev.12:1). The crescent Moon is Semiramis and the lone star is Osiris, who is both husband and son of Semiramis. An abomination. The sun is one of the smallest stars. The lone star doubles as the sun and the star. In other words, Nimrod, the husband of Semiramis is subsumed in the son, Thammuz who is also the husband of Semiramis, Nimrod come back to life. Most Muslim Imams practise witchcraft. They have charms and talisman for every imaginable desire and lust of fallen and deprave humanity. However, that the Ottoman Empire was the Seventh Beast Empire, and that Turkey will be the Eighth Beast Empire , and that the antiChrist will be a Mideast Muslim from Turkey, and the king of the North are false.
Avraham Shallom.
This article is dedicated to my friend and brother-in-the-Lord Dr. Olubukunola Jeminusi, a Public Health specialist. We were colleagues in the medical school in Ife. Recently, at one of our seminars on end times in Sagamu, he played a video that prompted me to write this article to set forth right certain contentious issues of and wrong notions about the end times.
To understand and gain insight into Paul’s instruction to the Thessalonians concerning the Rapture and the Day Of The Lord, one must first understand the background surrounding Paul’s epistles to the Thessalonians. Paul’s stay in Thessalonica was very brief due to persecution instigated by some Jewish elements in the city who were disgruntled with Paul’s teachings on the kingship of our Lord Jesus the Christ. They were able to gain the support of the Greeks and the city officials by capitalizing on this aspect of Paul’s message. They accused Jason, Paul’s host, and certain other brethren they laid hands on to the city officials, of receiving Paul and Silas, men that have turned the world upside down, and taught that there was another king other than Ceasar, one Jesus. The city officials took security of Jason, and those other brethren. Whatever happened to them afterwards, the Scriptures are silent about. Paul and Silas were spirited out of the city by the brethren.
The Background Of Paul’s Letters To The Thessalonians.
The ancient city of Thessalonica was ideally situated on the Ignatian Way, on the western side of Chalcidic Peninsula. It was the chief seaport of ancient Macedonia, and an important commercial centre and a military base. Today, the city is called Thessaloniki which is in Greece. Paul’s witness there was very brief. Following persecution in Philippi, Paul and Silas travelled the Ignatian Way to Thessalonica(Acts 16:39-17:1). There Paul taught in the synagogue for three sabbaths. Some Jews who were antagonistic to the gospel stirred up the Thessalonians against the brethren, accusing them of treason, probably because Paul proclaimed Jesus as King. The house of Jason, Paul’s host was assaulted in order to bring Paul and Silas to the city officials. When they did not find them, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the city officials who took security of them. The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away to Berea(Acts 17:5-10).
The believers in Thessalonica came under great persecution as a result of this uproar. Paul desired to return to Thessalonica to ground them in the Faith, but was hindered by Satan(1 Thess.2:17,18). Subsequently, Paul despatched Timotheus to complete the work which he started(1 Thess.3:1,2).
Paul wrote his first letter to the Thessalonians between 50 and 51 AD., after Timothy returned to him in Corinth(Acts 18:5). The message Timotheus brought to Paul from Thessalonica was mixed: there were good news as well as bad news. The good news was that the Thessalonians were zealous and steadfast in propagating the gospel(1 Thess.3:6). The bad news was that there were ethical problems as well as some eschatological misconceptions(1 Thess.3:4-7; 4:13 ). They were worried that believers who were dead would miss Christ at His second coming. Paul assured them that those who died in Christ would be the first to rise from the dead to meet the Lord in the air together with those who are alive and remain(1 Thess.4:13-18).
Paul’s second epistle to the Thessalonians was written about 51-52 AD, and was sent from Corinth after the first letter. It contains together with his first letter, the fullest treatment of the second coming and the Rapture of the Church not found anywhere else in the Scriptures. The Rapture was an issue of great importance to the Thessalonians. Some members of the congregation had no clear understanding concerning the Day Of The Lord, and the timing of the Rapture(1 Thess.5:1-11; 4:13-1 ). With increased persecution, they felt that the Day Of The Lord had already come, and they had missed Christ’s return.
“Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together unto Him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand(1 Thess.2:1,2).
Within the Thessalonian church were false teachers who were communicating erroneous doctrines. These false teachings were communicated in three ways: by spirit, that is some prophetic utterance, by word, that is through instructions by these false teachers; and by letter as from us, that is forged documents attributed to Apostle Paul and or some of his associates in the ministry. The core of this erroneous teaching was contained in the statement that the day of the Lord is at hand.
Paul’s Teachings To The Thessalonians.
In order to correct that error, Paul wrote them saying,
“let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come except there be a falling away first, and that man of Sin be revealed, the son of perdition”(2 Thess.2:3).
Clearly, unmistakably and in nondebatable terms, Paul identified two events that must proceed the Day of the Lord. These two events are presented in sequential order by Paul. They are the Apostasy And The revelation of the Man of Sin, the Son Of Perdition.The Pretribulation Rapture Position teaches that the translation of the church and the coming of the Lord must precede the fulfilment of Daniel’s prophecy of a final seven year period before the second coming of the Lord. Some even allow as much as seven years between the translation of the saints and the start of the 70th seven of Daniel. If the translation of the saints occurs before the start of the 70th seven of Daniel, the Apostasy and the revelation of the Man Of Sin must also occur before the start of the 70th seven of Daniel of Daniel, inasmuch as these events precede the Rapture.
The appearance of the Man Of Sin marks the starting point of the 70th seven of Daniel, and his revelation in the rebuilt Jewish Temple on Mount Moriah occurs three and one-half years later, precisely at the midpoint of the 70th seven of Daniel. And both of these events precede that day, that is, The Day of The Lord. The Rapture and the Day Of The Lord, occur on the same day. On the same day the church is raptured, the Day of The Lord begins. The Lord Jesus taught that on the very same day Noah entered the ark, God’s judgment fell on the predeluvian earth-dwellers. The very same day Noah and his family were delivered, judgment fell on the wicked and unregenerate world of his day. But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son Of Man be(Luk.17:26,27). This implies that the deliverance of the righteous shall be immediately followed by the judgment of the wicked in God’s Day Of The Lord wrath.
The clear teaching of the Scriptures is that no extended period of time separates the Rapture and God’s day of the Lord judgment of the living wicked earth-dwellers. Both the teachings of Apostle Paul and the Lord Jesus the Christ, invalidate the doctrine of imminency which teaches that no prophesied events must occur before the Rapture of the church, and the proposition that the Day of the Lord starts at the beginning of the 70th seven of Daniel.From the teaching of Paul in 2 Thessalonian 2, we draw the following conclusions:
1) The Apostasy And The revelation of the Man Of Sin, occur within the 70th seven of Daniel, not outside and before it;
2) The Day Of The Lord occurs after the Apostasy and the revelation of the Man of Sin;
3) The Rapture of the Church immediately precedes the Day Of The Lord; and therefore,
4) The Rapture CANNOT occur before the 70th week of Daniel, and so CANNOT be pretribulational.
The Apostasy
The phrase falling away in 2 Thess.2:3, is a transliteration of the Greek word “apostasia,” which means defection, revolt, and rebellion. It is from this Greek word that the English word apostasy and it’s cognate apostate are derived. It signals the falling away or total abandonment of a course or someone. It occurs twice in the whole of the scriptures. Therefore how it is used is of utmost importance.
Christianity began as a sect within Judaism. The early believers worshipped in the temple on a daily basis. They believed in Jesus but continued to adhere to the old covenant and to keep the law of Moses(Acts 21:20). They believed in Jesus but within OT Judaism. They did not understand that Jesus had instituted a new covenant. Dr Luke used the word to describe what the Jewish elders of the early church in Jerusalem said to Paul:And they are informed of thee, that thou teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs(Acts 21:21).Forsake in the above verse of Scripture is a translation of the Greek word “apostasia.” It means to fall away or to utterly abandon. In this case, Paul was accused by the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem, not the Jewish leaders of the early church in Jerusalem, of teaching Jews among the Gentiles not to circumcise their male infants and to abandon the Mosaic law. Circumcision was the seal of covenantal relationship between God and the Jewish people. Paul was being repudiated for supposedly teaching the Jews in foreign lands to abandon Circumcision and the Jewish customs.
The other use of the word “apostasia” is by Paul in 2 Thess.2:3 which we quoted earlier. He used the word exactly the same way as Dr. Luke. He was speaking of Jews, who during the 70th week of Daniel, will totally abandon the God of their fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and the Jewish messianic hope, in favour of a false religion instituted by the False Prophet, and the antiMessiah, a False Messiah, the antiChrist(2 Thess.2:2-12 ).This view is in marked contrast to the view held by pretribulation rapturists, who believe that Paul was talking about believers who in this day and age will apostasize, deny and abandon their faith in Jesus the Christ before the Rapture of the church and the beginning of the 70th seven of Daniel. There is scarcity of scriptural evidence to substantiate this position. They appeal to 1 Tim.4:1,2, to substantiate their position.
“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of demons;”
The word apostasia with the definite article “the” is not used here as in 1 Tim.4. The Greek word translated depart from is “aphistemi” which means to put away(divorce), remove, seduce, make disloyal, to withdraw, to remove oneself, retire or cease from something. The word apostasy as used in 2 Thess.2, has the definite article, “the.” It is speaking of a definite, identifiable and specific event, not some nebulous apostasy at the end of this age. The men and women Paul was speaking about in 1 Tim.4:1,2, were lured away from the faith through false doctrines, not apostasy enacted by governmental decree and enforced by agents of government whereby one either complies or be killed if discovered, nor dies of starvation due to economic boycott and inability to procure food and other supplies in hiding. These men and women were false teachers who though believe the gospel, espoused erroneous doctrines. They could more appropriately be identified as heretics rather than apostates. These two terms are not synonymous. If a true believer apostasizes in the age, that is totally abandons or falls away from faith in Christ, the doctrine of eternal security becomes suspect.
The Identification Of The Apostasy And The Time Of Its Occurrence.
The future ascendancy of the antiMessiah is prefigured by the emergence of the Greco-Syrian leader Antiochus Epiphanes. The career of this infamous leader is revealed in three passages of the Word of God(Dan.8:9-25; 11:21-35; Zach.9:13-17). He is clearly and indisputably set in the Scripture as the foreshadow of the antiMessiah. The First Century Jewish historian, Flavius Josephus is a major source on the life of Antiochus Epiphanies, so also the apocryphal book of 1 Maccabees, which conservative scholars have long recognised as possessing significant historical worth, and is primarily given over to a consideration of the insidious career of this infamous man.The plan of Antiochus was to defeat surrounding nations through military conquest, and then assimilate them into his kingdom through the adoption of the Hellenistic culture. He wanted conquered nations to speak Greek language, wear Greek clothing, adopt Greek philosophy of life and worship Greek gods. In that way he could quickly and effectively assimilate them into the Greek empire.
This plan accomplished, conquered people would pay tribute to him, serve in his army, and become effective buffers between his empire and his enemy nations. His troops could be withdrawn from successfully assimilated nations to serve somewhere else.Antiochus had earlier invaded Egypt, then ruled by the Ptolemies. In 168 BC, he returned to consolidate his victory. On this occasion he was met by a legate of the Roman Senate, who drew a circle around him, and demanded that he either decides to withdraw or accepts war with Rome before he exits the circle. Antiochus was not ready for war with the emerging Roman Empire. Humiliated, he chose to withdraw. On his way back to Syria, he marched his troops through the land of Israel. Antiochus sought to Hellinize the Jewish people, to turn them from the Law of Moses, from the practice of circumcision as a sign of covenantal relationship with Yahweh, the God of Israel, and from the observance of their religious customs. This was exactly the same thing that Apostle Paul was accused of doing by the Jewish religious leaders in Jerusalem(Acts 21:21). This is what is historically described as Apostasy. He wanted Israel to be a buffer zone between him territory and Egypt.
Antiochus succeeded to a large extent in Hellenizing the Jewish people. A large segment of the non-religious and nonobservant Jews capitulated to his authority and demands, and entered into a covenant with him. The goings-on in those days were graphically recorded in the book of 1 Meccabees.In those days lawless men came forth from Israel, and misled many, saying,
“let us go and make a covenant with the Gentiles round about us, for since we separated from them many evils have come upon us.”
This proposal pleased them, and some of the people eagerly went to the king. So they built a gymnasium in Jerusalem, according to Gentile custom, and removed the marks of circumcision, and abandoned the Holy covenant. They joined themselves with the Gentiles and sold themselves to do evil(1 Macc.1:11-14).This falling away or total abandonment of the God of Israel by many from within Israel is specifically called the Apostasy. So it was that the king’s officials who were enforcing the Apostasy came to Modein to make them offer sacrifice(1 Macc. 2:15). This sacrifice was the offering of a pig to the Greek Olympian Zeus, a heathen deity, an Abomination of great magnitude for observant Jews. Under the Mosaic Law, the pig was an unclean animal, and therefore strictly forbidden both for human consumption, and the offering of sacrifice to the God of Israel(Lev. 11:2,7; Deut. 13:3,8). Some Jews rebelled against this abominable and evil demand, while others capitulated. The ancient chronicler continues the saga of Antiochus and the Jewish people:Then the king wrote to his whole Kingdom that all should be one people, and that each should give up his customs. All the Gentiles accepted the command of the king. Many even from Israel gladly adopted his religion; they sacrificed to idols and profaned the sabbath.
And the king sent letters by messengers to Jerusalem and the cities of Judah; he directed them to follow customs strange to the land, to forbid burnt offerings and sacrifices and drink offerings in the sanctuary and the priests, to build altars and sacred precincts and shrines for idols, to sacrifice swine and unclean animals, and to leave their sons uncircumcised. They were to make themselves abominable by everything unclean and profane, so that they should forget the law and change all ordinances (1 Macc.1:41-49).This is an accurate and perfect description of Apostasy, the total abandonment of Jehovah for a heathen deity. This covenant which many of the Jewish people made with Antiochus prefigures the covenant that many from within Israel will make with the antiChrist at the beginning of the 70th seven of Daniel. The prophet Daniel wrote: “And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week; and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of the abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate”( Dan. 9:27).
The defilement of the Jewish Temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem, his treatment of the Jews, and their abandonment of the God of Israel for a heathen deity is one of the most conspicuous events in Jewish history. It is the same Apostasy by the Jewish people, at the same place, in the rebuilt Jewish Temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem, to embrace a heathen deity, and a false Messiah, the antiChrist that will signal the last seven years of the history of the present Age.
Parallels Between Antiochus And The Antichrist.
There are some Parallels between historically fulfilled events under Antiochus and prophetic events awaiting fulfillment under The Antichrist. Marvin J. Rosenthal has outlined nine of these Parallels. We shall examine these amazingly similar Parallels.
(1) Covenant.
Both Antiochus and the Antimessiah make a Covenant to protect Israel. In those days lawless men came forth from Israel, and misled many, saying,
“Let us go and make a Covenant with the Gentiles round about us, for since we separated from them many evils have come upon us. He authorized them to observe the ordinances of the Gentiles”(1 Macc.1:11,12).
Concerning the Antichrist, it is written, “And he shall confirm the Covenant with many for one week”(Dan.9:27a).
(2) Many Within Israel
In both instances, the Covenant is cut with the many within the nation of Israel. Not all Jews acceded to these Covenants. There is no unanimous support in both cases. Concerning Antiochus, it is written:
“In those days lawless men came forth from Israel, and misled many.” And also, “Many even from Israel gladly adopted his religion.” And again, “Many of the people, every one who forsook the law, joined them, and they did evil in the land”(1 Macc.1:11,43, 52). Of the antiChrist, it’s written, “he shall confirm the Covenant with many”(Dan. 9:27a). This is the only occasion in the Bible where a Covenant is said to be made with the many. This clearly shows that the Covenant was not unanimously supported.
(3) Apostasize.
In both instances, Jews who enter into Covenant are said to apostasize. As touching Antiochus it is written,
“Then the king’s officers who were enforcing the apostasy came to the city of Modein to make them offer sacrifice”(1 Macc.2:15).
Concerning the antiChrist Paul wrote, “Let no man deceive by any means; for that day shall not come, except there come the falling away first, and that Man Of Sin be revealed, the Son Of Perdition”(2 Thess.2:3).
The word translated falling away is apostasy, and the Man of Sin is the antiChrist.
(4) Broken Covenants In The Temple.
Both Antiochus and the antiChrist break the covenants they made with the many from within Israel. “After subduing Egypt, Antiochus returned,…. He went up against Israel and came to Jerusalem with a strong force. He arrogantly entered the sanctuary and took the golden altar, the lampstand for the light, and all its utensils”(1 Macc.1:20,21).
The Bible describes the same event concerning Antiochus, “And forces shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate”(Dan. 11:31).
As touching the antiChrist, it is written,
“in the midst of the week, he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease”(Dan.9:27b).
That means he will break the covenant in the middle of the 70th seven of Daniel(cp. Matt. 24:15). Both men, Antiochus and The antiChrist break the covenant at the same place, in the temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem.
(5) Introduction Of Heathen Deity In The Temple.
Both Antiochus and the antiMessiah break the covenant by introducing heathen deity in the Holy Of Holies of the Jewish Temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem. Of Antiochus, it is written,
“He went up against Israel and came to Jerusalem with a strong force. He arrogantly entered the sanctuary”(1 Macc.1:20,21).
It is on record in the annals of history, that he set up an image or statue of his patron deity, Zeus Olympus in the Holy Of Holies of the Second Jewish Temple on Mount Moriah. The image of his Chief deity was in the likeness of a man(humanism), the burst of Antiochus himself. Apostle Paul wrote of the antiChrist,
“who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, so that he, as God, sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God”(2 Thess..2:4, cf. Matt. 24:15, Rev.13:15).
Precisely in the middle of the 70th seven of Daniel, the antiChrist shall set up a statue or image of himself in the rebuilt Third Jewish Temple on Mount Moriah, demanding worship of all mortals, especially the Jews in the immediate vicinity of Jerusalem.
(6) Jewish Opposition.
In both instances, some Jews oppose the introduction of a false religion, as a consequence of which many of these Jews perish. Of this courageous and small band of brave men, it is recorded,
“But many in Israel stood firm and were resolved in their hearts not to eat unclean food. They chose to die rather than to be defiled by food or to profane the Holy covenant; and they did die”(1 Macc.1:62,62). Speaking of that future day when the antiMessiah shall demand that Jews bow to his image, and many will refuse, the Lord Jesus said,
“Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you; and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake”(Matt. 24:9).
( 7) Flight To The Mountains.
In both instances observant Jews who oppose the Apostasy flew to the mountains to escape persecution.
“Then Mattathias cried out in the city with a loud voice, saying: Let every one who is zealous for the law and supports the covenant come out with me! And he and his sons fled to the hill and left all that they had in the city. Then many who were seeking righteousness and justice went down to the wilderness to dwell there”(1 Macc.2:27-29).
In the Gospel of Matthew, in the context of the Great tribulation, it is written of the righteous remnant in Israel,
“Let him who is on the house top not come down to take anything out of his house; Neither let him who is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe unto those who are with child, and those who nurse children in those days! But pray that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day”(Matt. 24:16-20).
It will be really very difficult for observant Jews if this event occurs on the sabbath day in the winter. In every war, children, pregnant and nursing mothers and the elderly suffer the most.
(8) Increased Death Toll On The Sabbath.
In both instances, many observant Jews die because they would not violate the Sabbath. What transpired in the days of Antiochus graphically portrays what will take place in the days of the antiMessiah. It will be very traumatic.
“Then many who were seeking righteousness and justice went down to the wilderness to dwell there, they, their sons, their wives, and their cattle, because evil pressed heavily upon them. And it was reported to the king’s officers, and the troops in Jerusalem, the city of David, that men who had rejected the king’s command had gone down to the hiding places in the wilderness. Many pursued them and overtook them; they encamped opposite them and prepared for battle against them on the Sabbath day. And they said to them, Enough of this! Come out and do the king’s commands, and ye shall live. But they said, we will not come out, nor will we do what the king’s commands and profane the Sabbath day. Then the enemy hastened to attack them. But they did not answer them or hurl a stone at them or block up their hiding places, for they said, let us die in our innocence; heaven and earth testify that you are killing us unjustly“(1 Macc.2:29-37).
With regards to that future day, the Lord commanded us,
“Pray that your flight be not in the winter neither on the Sabbath day”( Matt. 24:20 ).
Commitment to the Sabbath day by observant Jews is excessively fanatical. If one pushes an elevator bottom, drives a car, enters a restaurant, or checks into an hotel, one has broken the Sabbath. The Israeli airline El AL can neither take off nor land on the Sabbath day. A Sabbath day journey is two thousand cubits, a little more than half a mile. With the Sabbath laws fully instituted in Israel, observant Jews can neither fight nor flee on the Sabbath. In this regard, the admonition by the Lord, “Pray that your flight be not in winter neither on the Sabbath day” takes on added significance, inasmuch as the Lord’s warning relates to getting away from Jerusalem as far as possible, and as quickly as possible.
(9) Increased Death Toll For Womens And Children.
On both occasions, many women and children perish. Antiochus attempted to stamp out Judaism and the worship of Jehovah. He proscribed circumcision, the sign of covenantal relationship between God and the Jews. Those who did not comply died. Of that event, the chronicler wrote,
“According to the decree, they put to death the women who had their children circumcised, and their families and those who circumcised them; and they hung the infants from their mothers’ necks”(1 Macc.1:60,6 ).
Little wonder therefore that our Lord Jesus spoke of those days in this fashion:
“And woe unto them that are with child, and to those who nurse in those days!”(Matt. 24:19).
Those observant Jewish mothers who would circumcise their sons would be slain alongside with them. This is reminiscent of Pharaoh’s infanticide decree(Exod.1:15,16); Herod’s command to kill all male children in the region of Bethlehem, up to and under two years of age(Matt.2:16); and Adolf Hitler’s systematic murder of two million Jewish children during the Holocaust.
The Career Of The antiMessiah And The Plight Of The Jews.
The career of the antiMessiah and the plight of the Jews in the 70th seven of Daniel are clearly and with divine design kaleidoscoped and previewed in the account of Antiochus Epiphanes and his barbaric treatment of the sons of Jacob. At the start of the 70th seven of Daniel, the apostasizing Jews will sign a seven-year peace treaty with the antiChrist and the sorrounding nations.
The Seven Secondary Nations Of the Eighth Beast And Final Beast Empire completely encircle Israel: A Tiny Jewish Island In An Ocean Of Arabs
Interestingly, the seven secondary nation of the ten-nation confederation completely encircle Israel. The Israelis love life and peace. They very much want to live, but their neighbors, the Hamas, the Hizbollah, the IS, the Iranians etc., are war mongers. They hate life, and love death; they very much want to die.Today, the Israeli soldiers are Jewish fighters of superior quality, but not war mongers. Israel will very much welcome any peace agreement that will offer it a vista of respite from war with its neighbors. This is exactly what the antiChrist will do. The government of Israel at that time would believe that the peace agreement with the antiMessiah will offer Israel protection from surrounding nations. This will indeed be so for the first three and one-half years of the 70th seven of Daniel. The antiChrist being the political guru that he is would accomplish this supposedly insurmountable political obstacle to peace in the Middle East. This was exactly also the same thing that the Jews thought when they made a covenant with Antiochus Epiphanes. They had good intentions. Good intentions do not always justify actions taken. The actions themselves must be viewed in the light of their own merits.
In reality, the peace covenant with the antiChrist, will be a covenant with death in disguise. It will be Israel’s greatest apostasy. Not only will it not bring peace and safety, but it will bring the nation of Israel and the Jewish people to the brink and threshold of extinction and annihilation. Except those days be shortened, no flesh shall be saved(Matt. 24:22). This statement of the Scripture is not speaking of universal annihilation. In the context of Matt.24:15-26, the topic is the Abomination That Make Desolate; the location is Israel, it’s capital City Jerusalem, and her Temple Mount; the occasion is the time of Jacob’s trouble, time of distress spoken of by Daniel the prophet, the Tribulation the Great(Jer.30:7; Dan.12:1; Matt.24:21); the participants are primarily Jews and believers in the land of Israel. That does not however mean that the Great Tribulation shall be localized or circumscribed to Israel: for whatever happens in Israel sends ripples to the whole World. Essentially, it is the Jews and the christians, and any other person who repudiates the authority of the antiMessiah in the land of Israel, the seat of the antiChrist’s Administration, that will perish if the Great Tribulation is not amputated.
The Covenant With Death.
The prophet Isaiah sarcastically wrote of that covenant that Israel will make with the antiChrist:
“Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with Hell(Sheol) are we in agreement, when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us; for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have hid ourselves”(Is. 28:15).
Do these Jews see the antiChrist as lie and falsehood? No. But that is exactly who and what he is, lie and falsehood. Therefore a covenant with the antiChrist is a covenant with lie and falsehood.The prophet continued to speak of the covenant of apostasy with sarcasm:
“And your covenant with death shall be annulled, and your agreement with Hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trampled down by it”(Is.28:18).
The phrase the overflowing scourge, is a reference to the Great Tribulation, the Time of Jacob’s Trouble, which they shall not escape. Remember their aim is to seek protection by antiMessiah from the surrounding hostile Gentile nations. But they shall be hoodwinked into entering into the Belly Of The Tiger. Because the Covenant Of Apostasy is a Covenant Of Deception, the prophet Isaiah sarcastically spoke of the Jews entering into an agreement with Death and Hell. The antiMessiah is the agent of Death and Hell(Sheol).
This covenant Of Apostasy is also spoken of in the imagery of spiritual infidelity and sexual unfaithfulness. Israel is the wife of Jehovah God. But the church is the bride of the Christ, espoused to Him, but not yet married. In this Covenant Of Apostasy, Israel’s ultimate day of unfaithfulness, Israel will reject the True Messiah, and embrace the false Messiah.
“Behind the doors also and the doorposts hast thou set up thy remembrances; for thou hast uncovered thyself to another than me, and art gone up; thou hast enlarged thy bed, and made thee a covenant with them; thou lovest their bed where thou sawest it. And thou wentest to the king with ointment, and didst increase thy perfumes, and didst send thy messengers far off, and didst debase thyself even to Hell”(Is. 57:8,9).
All the passages referred to above speak of the covenant Israel make with the antiMessiah as Covenant With Death or Debasement To Hell or “Sheol” which is the Hebrew word for the common grave, Hell, and the underworld of the dead.
The Covenant With Death And The Revelation Of The Man Of Sin.
The apostasy Apostle Paul referred to in 2 Thess.2:2-4, will involve Israel, not the Church. It is Israel that will make peace agreement with the antiMessiah. The Church will sign no peace agreement with the antiMessiah. The Apostasy will commence when many from within the nation of Israel sign a covenant of peace with the antiChrist at the beginning of the 70th week of Daniel. Unbeknownst to them, this covenant will be an agreement with Hell or “Sheol,” a covenant with death. The Apostasy will constitute a total abandonment or falling away of the nation of Israel and the Jewish people, from renewed covenantal relationship with the God of their forefathers and the promised Messiah. Through this covenant, the Jews will embrace a counterfeit religion– humanism– and a counterfeit messiah– the antiMessiah – who offers a counterfeit solution to the Middle East peace dilemma.The antiChrist has no intentions of keeping this peace agreement. For three and one-half years, while the rest of the world is engulfed in wars, commotion and rumours of wars, famines, earthquakes and pestilences, Israel enjoys a relative peace even with her Arab and Islamic neighbors, courtesy of the antiChrist. But precisely in the midst of the week, and without warning, the antiMessiah breaks that peace agreement with the many from within Israel.
Having previously entered the Middle East on the pretext of protecting Israel, he defeats Egypt, Syria and other nations. But Moab Ammon and Edom will escape out of his hands probably because they are allied to him or perhaps neutral as some have suggested. In the midst of the week also he relocates his headquarters to Jerusalem.
“He shall plant the tabernacle of palace between the seas in the glorious Holy Mountain”(Dan. 11:42-45).
The two seas are the Mediterranean and the Dead Seas, and the glorious Holy Mountain is no doubt, Jerusalem. Jerusalem is geographically the centre of the Earth. It is also the gateway to the three major continents. It is therefore geographically suitable as the headquarters of the government of the antiChrist in order to embark on his ambition to conquer the whole world and establish a one-thousand-year reign. Little wonder then, he transfers his headquarters to Jerusalem.
It will be only then, in the middle of the week, with Jerusalem surrounded by his troops, having amassed the most sophisticated military and most powerful army in the annals of military history, he will now set up his image in the rebuilt Jewish Temple, The Third Temple, on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem, declares himself God, and demands worship of all and sundry. It will be also be at this point that he removes the veil, revealing himself as a dead man come back to life. It will be at this point that his real character and identity will be made known to the Jews. Then they will realize, they had previously, three and one-half years earlier, made a covenant with Death, and an agreement with “Sheol.” Some biblical commentators, especially of the pretribulation persuasion, focusing on Paul’s statement to the Thessalonians “and that Man Of Sin be revealed, the Son Of Perdition”(2 Thess.2:3), have placed that event at the signing of the peace treaty(Dan.9:27) and, therefore at the beginning of the 70th seven of Daniel. In doing so, they have missed the whole point of Paul’s argument.
There are two facts of utmost importance in Paul’s argument. First, the Apostasy must occur. The Apostasy must be understood as the total abandonment by many of the Jewish people, from within Israel, of the covenantal relationship between them and the God of their forefathers. This begins at the beginning of the 70th seven, when the peace agreement is signed with the antiMessiah, although the consequences are not acutely felt until the middle of the 70th week when the antiMessia makes his debut at the rebuilt Jewish Temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem.
Second, at the midpoint of the 70th week, the Man Of Sin is revealed. Paul makes that clear in a most conspicuous way. Having stated that the Man Of Sin is revealed, he did not connect it to the signing of the 7-year peace agreement, but to the occasion of the setting up of the image of the antiMessiah in the rebuilt Jewish Temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem. Apostle Paul described the revelation of the Man Of Sin as follows:
“who opposeth and exalted himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, so that he, as God, sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God”(2 Thess.2:4).
The event paul was speaking about here cannot be devorced from the time of the unveiling of the antiMessiah. Paul was not speaking about the time the antiMessiah made a covenant with the many from within Israel, when he appeared on the scene; that was clearly three and one-half years earlier. That was not the issue. He was speaking about the time when the antiChrist will be recognized by the leaders of Israel- who made that covenant with him three and one-half years earlier- for who he truly is. The recognition of the antiMessiah for who he truly is will occur at the mid-point of the 70th week of Daniel, when his image is erected in the rebuilt Jewish Temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem(Dan.9:27; Matt.24:15). It will be then, and only then, that the Jewish leadership will realize they had made a covenant with Death, and with Sheol are they in agreement. When they realize this, the shock will be indescribable, it will be the worst of nightmares, only it will be real. It will be the worst of horror stories, only it will have substance. No wonder it is called the Great Tribulation(Matt. 24:21), the time of Jacob’s trouble(Jer.30:7), and the time of trouble or distress(Dan.12:1).
The Identity Of The antiMessiah.
There are reasons why the leadership of Israel and the Jewish people will not recognize the antiMessiah until his debut in the rebuilt Jewish Temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem. The antiChrist is a man who lived before, and ruled one of the seven beast empires of Satan which impacted Israel directly and negatively by persecuting Jews.
“Here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sitteth. And there seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come, and when he cometh he must continue a short space: And the beast that was and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into petdition(Rev.17:9, 10).
The Seven Beast Empires Of Satan
The seven mountains are the seven Beast Empires. The seven kings are the responsible heads of these empires that persecuted the Jewish people. The beast empires are: Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medopersia, Greece Rome and Nazi Germany. The antiMessiah was killed with a military weapon in battle. He will come back to life to rule over the Eighth and Final Beast Empire of Satan. The antiChtist will be a man whose soul ascends from the shaft of the abyss.
“And I saw one of his heads as though it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed, and all the world wondered after the beast”(Rev. 13:3).
One of the heads of the beast was “wounded to death.” A literal translation would read, “as having been slain to death.” This is exactly the same word that was used of the Lamb in Rev.5:6, where it was translated “as it had been slain.” If Christ actually died, it also means this head of the Beast also died in actuality. But his deadly wound was healed which meant restoration to life. In Rev.11:7, the beast ascends out of the abyss, which coincides with his restoration to life.
“The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.”(Rev.17:8 KJV).
What this means is the beast actually died and descended into the abyss, ascended out of the abyss, and is restored to life. He is a dead man come back to life, therefore the world understandably wonders after him.But human spirits do not descend into the abyss at death. The abyss is the abode of evil angels who did not keep their first estate, but left their own habitations, to cohabit with the daughters of men(Jude 6).
After the destruction of their physical bodies in the deluge, their spirits were imprisoned in the abyss under darkness, waiting for the judgment of the great day. The antiMessiah must have ascended out of the abyss to rule over one of the seven beast empires of Satan. When his physical body was wounded to death, in other words when he died, his spirit descended back into the abyss. Therefore, he shall arise out of the abyss to rule over the Eighth And Final Beast Empire Of Satan.The implication of the above analysis is enormous. Apart from being an evil and fallen angelic spirit, he will also be empowered directly by Satan(Rev.13:2). No wonder he has superhuman abilities, and very charming. He will be a very extraordinary person, resolving supposedly impossible political dilemmas, uniting supposedly mutually incompatible peoples.
The antiMessiah with his fascinating personality, and unusual abilities to dissolve dilemmas, will literally mesmerize the leaders of Israel and the Jewish people to enter into a covenant with him. With his extraordinary and other worldly diplomatic skills he will secure the rights of the Jewish people to rebuild their temple on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. As a military genius, he would amass the most sophisticated and strongest army in the annals of military history. Initially he will be easy to get along with, appears sincere, charming and mesmerizing everyone he comes in contact with.
The only ones who would know the true nature of the antiChrist from the beginning of his political career are his closest aides, his co-conspirators, and some of the children of God, believers and some observant Jews who have learned about him from what is revealed of him in the Scriptures. The rest of the world he will lead as lambs to the slaughter.
The Worship Of The antiMessiah: The worship Of Satan.
As we have seen, the antiChrist will be the worst of men, arising out of the abyss, empowered by Satan who gives him his seat, power and great authority(Rev.13:2). Therefore by bowing to the antiChrist, men and women will invariably be worshipping Satan, the Supreme personality of evil, the archenemy of God and His children.
“And they worshipped the Dragon which gave power to the beast, and they worshipped the beast, saying, who is like unto the beast, and saying: who is able to make war with him?”(Rev. 13:4).
The antiMessiah will make a covenant of peace with Israel for seven years. His former identity under which he ruled one of the seven previous beast empires will be hidden. It will become clear to the Jews and the rest of the world at the midpoint of the 70th week of Daniel when he makes his debut at the rebuilt Jewish Temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem. At this point, the veil over his identity will be unmasked, and his true nature and identity as a dead man come back to life from the abyss who had ruled over one of the seven previous beast empires will be made known.
At this point, he will hide himself no more. It will not pay him to hide himself any more; in fact, it profits him to wholly reveal who he is.The Apostasy will begin at the beginning of the 70th seven of Daniel. Indeed it marks the terminus-a-quo of the 70th seven of Daniel. In the middle of the week, the antiMessiah will be revealed to the Jewish people, and the rest of humanity. This will trigger a period of persecution so great and severe that unless those days were cut short, no flesh would be saved. What is amputated is not the three and one-half years allotted to the antiChrist but The Great Tribulation by the antiChrist. No flesh here, in context, would mean Jews and Christians in the land of Israel, the centre of activity of the antiMessiah.But it also includes anyone else anywhere in the world who repudiates the authority of the antiChrist.
The point at issue which Apostle Paul makes undeniably clear in his second epistle to the Thessalonians is that the Apostasy And The revelation of the Man Of Sin to Israel occur inside the 70th week of Daniel, not before it begins as our brethren of the pretribulation persuasion would have us believe. That a remnant of godly believers, and observant Jews would recognize the antiChrist is certainly true, and consistent with the teachings of the Lord(Matt. 24:4-28, 33), and the Apostle Paul(1 Thess.5:4-6). But what Paul was trying to make clear, is that the leaders of Israel and the Jewish people, and the majority of Israelis, and the Jewish people, the “am ha aretz,” the people of the land, will not recognize the antiMessiah until the Abomination Of Desolation occurs in the middle of the 70th week of Daniel.
According to Apostle Paul, the Rapture of the Church and the Day Of The Lord occur after these events ( 2Thess.2:3,4 ). It therefore follows that the Day Of The Lord CANNOT commence at the start of the 70th seven of Daniel, and the Rapture which occurs on the very same day before the Day Of The Lord begins, CANNOT be pretribulational. Amen.
Because the Thessalonians had been taught by some within the local Assembly that they have missed the Rapture, and were then in the Day Of The Lord, Apostle Paul penned this letter to them in order to correct this erroneous doctrine. He made a plea based on the coming of the Lord, and our gattering together unto Him. These two event, the coming of the Lord and our gathering together unto Him occur at the same time(Rapture).
“For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son Of Man be in His day”(Luk.17:24).
When the Shekinah, the visible presence of the Lord appears in the heavens, we the saints shall be gathered unto Him. In Matthew, it is referred to as the appearance of the sign of the Son Of Man in the heavens.
“And then shall appear the sign of the Son Of Man in the heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son Of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory”(Matt.24:30).
This event, the appearance of the Shekinah in the heavens is preceeded by the Great Tribulation.
“Immediately after the Tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heaven shall be shaken”(Matt.24:29).
For the Thessalonians to be in the Day Of Lord, they must have past through the Great Tribulation, witnessed the Cosmic and celestial disturbances, and the appearance of the Sign of the Son Of Man in the heavens, and the gathering together of the elect by the angels of God to meet the Lord in the air. These are no secret phenomena. These are worldwide events that shall be witnessed by all and sundry.
“Behold, He cometh with the clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him: and all the kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him. Even so, Amen”(Rev.1:7).
We can see that Revelation corroborates Matthew that all the Earth shall mourn when they see the Son Of Man appear in the heavens. This should not surprise us because our Lord Jesus is the author of both the Olivet Discourse and the Scroll Of Revelation. In the Olivet Discourse, the letters are in red, indicating that Jesus the Christ is the speaker. In the Scroll of Revelation, it is written:
“The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto Him, to show unto His servants things which must shortly come to pass; and He sent and signified it unto His servant John: who bear record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and all things that he saw”(Rev.1:1,2).
Therefore Jesus Himself is the author of the Scroll of Revelation, and John was His amanuensis. It is after the appearance of the sign of the Son Of Man in the heavens that He shall dispatch His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from one end of heaven to the other.
“and He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His Elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other”(Matt.24:31).
These are unmistakable worldwide events that shall be witnessed by all and sundry. How then shall any intelligent person, in his normal senses, teach that the Rapture can occur at any moment, and that no prophesied event must precede the Rapture? A very Big Lie. Why is it that the Earth mourn when they see the sign of the Son Of Man in the heavens? Because they know His wrath is about to be poured out on them(Rev.6:12-17).
“Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto Him, That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that day of Christ is at hand.”(2 Thess.2:2).
Our brother Apostle Paul founded the church in Thessalonica(ca. 50-52 AD). His stay there was rather brief due to persecution from the civil authorities. But before Paul left he had taught them the rudiments of the second coming of Christ; he never had time to ground them fully in the basics and fundamentals of biblical eschatology. Thereafter, some within the church began to expound erroneous doctrine that the day of the Lord has already come and that the Thessalonians have missed the Rapture, and would never see their deceased loved ones in the Lord any more. This erroneous doctrine was propagated in three ways: (1) by prophetic utterance(by spirit); (2) by teaching(by word); and (3) by a letter(a written document) purportedly to have been written by Apostle Paul and or his associates in the ministry(by letter as from us, 2 Thess.2:2).
“Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there be a falling away first, and the Man of Sin be revealed, the Son Of Perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the Temple of God, showing himself that he is God”(2 Thess.2:3,4).
The word translated sin here is lawlessness. The antiChrist is the man of lawlessness. He shall change the times and seasons. He shall change the Judeochristian Mores which have guided the Western nations for over a thousands years. Paul wrote to correct this erroneous doctrine, that the Thessalonians should not be shaken in mind nor be troubled. He started by warning them that they should not be deceived because that day shall not come until two things happen:
(1) The Apostasy
the apostasy, a falling away from the faith, a rebellion, a total abandonment of the faith by some within the church, and some Jews who shall abandon covenantal relationship with the God of Israel in favour of a false man made God, the antiChrist, and
(2) The Unveiling Of The Man Of Sin
The antiChrist, the man of sin must be revealed(2 Thess.2:3). It is the revelation of the Man Of Sin, the antiChrist that leads to the apostasy, when he deifies himself and demands worship of all mortals(2 Thess.2:4). The apostasy occurs when the antiChrist demands worship of all mortals, and persecutes those who refuse to worship him. The Great Tribulation precipitates the apostasy, when there is a mass exodus of believers who are ungrounded in God’s instruction concerning perseverance to worship the Beast-antiChrist(Rev.3:10). These have been fed on bread and butter Christianity, and that they will never go through the Great Tribulation. They have been taught by some pretribbers that seven years before the antiChrist shows up on the world stage, they are already in Heaven. Imagine how unprepared they will be to face the antiChrist. This event takes place precisely in the middle of the 70th Seven of Daniel.
There was a minister of the gospel who refused to sit at our seminar, claiming he is a preacher of righteousness. That all we need to do is to live right, we shall be raptured whenever the rapture occurs. No amount of righteous living will deliver anyone from the horrors of the Great Tribulation if the one has not mastered the sequence of events of the End Times, and has prepared accordingly. It shall be a horrible disaster for this period to come upon us unawares, like a thief in the night. We are children of the light, and of the Day. We are not of Night nor of Darkness, therefore that event should not come upon us unawares(1 Thess.5:5).
“And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the over spreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate”(Dan.9:27).
The 70th seven of Daniel, the last seven years of the 490 years allotted to the Gentiles to persecute Israel, [“Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy Holy City, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and the prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy”(Dan.9:24)], shall begin when the Man Of Sin, the antiMessiah signs a seven year peace treaty with the many from within Israel. It is not the whole nation of Israel that will be in agreement with the covenant made with the antiChrist. There shall be some, even in government that shall be opposed to it. Nevertheless, the scornful rulers of Israel at that time shall go ahead and sign the covenant. This is the reason why it is referred to by the prophet Daniel as the covenant with the many. The many however are from within Israel.
The prophet Isaiah refers to it as “covenant with death” and “agreement with Sheol”(Hell or Hades). He also referred to it as “taking refuge in Lies” and “hiding under Falsehood.” The prophet Isaiah chided the rulers of Israel at that time, saying,
“Wherefore hear the word of The LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem. Because ye have said, we have a covenant with Death, and with Hell are we at agreement: when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made Lies our refuge, and under Falsehood have we hid ourselves.”(Is.28:14,15).
Is it not a curse to trust in man and a blessing to trust in the Lord?
“Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited. Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.”(Jer.17:5-8).
Because at that time, more than ever, Israel’s security shall be precarious, and the whole nation in grave existential danger due to hostility from its Arab and Islamic neighbours, and nations of the world, Israel shall seek protection from the most powerful ruler of the world at that time, the Emperor of the Eighth and Final Beast Empire of Satan. Israel is surrounded by hostile Arab and Islamic nations which shall be allied to the antiChrist. Instead of trusting in the Lord, they shall look up to man.
“Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?”(Isa.2:22).
In context, “man” is the antiChrist though applicable to anybody. Our Lord Jesus told the Jewish people who rejected Him who came in the name of the Father, but will accept another that will come in his own name:
“I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.”(John 5:43).
They shall seek refuge and protection from the most powerful ruler of the world, not knowing they shall be seeking refuge in “Lies,” and hiding themselves under “Falsehood.” Their covenant with the antiChrist shall be covenant with “Death,” and their agreement with him, an agreement with “Hell.” Here the antiChrist is referred to as “Death”, “Hell”, “Lies” and “Falsehood.” Because of existential threat Israel shall run into the open arms of the antiMessiah, the worst Jew hater of all times. They will take refuge in lies and hide under falsehood because the antiChrist shall be both “lie” and “falsehood.”
Following this agreement, the antiChrist shall station a protection force in Jerusalem, and all over the land of Israel. This he shall do under the guise of providing protection for Israel from its enemies. But his intention all along shall be to destroy the nation later on altogether after he has gained their confidence. They shall be “caught off guard.” For the first three and one-half years of the 70th week of Daniel, he shall offer protection to Israel. During this period, none of the sourounding nations shall invade Israel. Those of them who attempt shall incur his wrath. Remember that at this time, the antiChrist has the most sophisticated armies in the world equipped with the latest in military technology at his beck and call. This offer of protection by the antiChrist accounts for the relative peace that Israel enjoys during the first half of the 70th seven of Daniel.
There shall be wars and rumors of wars, and the antiMessiah shall go forth conquering and to conquer. The Wars shall lead to famines, pestilences and earthquakes, but Israel shall be relatively quiet during the convulsions of the first three and one-half years of the 70th week of Daniel(Rev.6:1-6; Matt.24:4-8; Mk.13:5-8; Luk.21: 8,9). Precisely, at the midpoint of the 70th week, and without warning, Jerusalem shall be surrounded with the armies of the antiChrist as he relocates his headquarters to the rebuilt Third Jewish Temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem, Israel. This move by the antiChrist should not surprise us. Because the antiMessiah, the Man of lawlessness is a copycat. Christ shall reign from His Throne Room in The Holy Of Holies of the Fourth and Millennial Temple on the renovated Mount Zion in Jerusalem, Israel. The word antiChrist means the one who is against and in place of Christ. He is opposed, and exalts himself above all that is called God or worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the Temple of God, displaying himself that he is God(2 Thess.2:4).
In verse 4, Paul asked them, don’t you remember that when I was yet with you I told you these things?
“And your covenant with Death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with Hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it. From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be vexation only to understand the report”(Is.28:18,19).
Their covenant with Death shall be abrogated, and their agreement with Hell abolished. Therefore the antiChrist shall not keep his part of the covenant.
“And he shall plant the tabernacle of his palace between the seas in the glorious Holy Mountain; yet he shall come to His end, and none shall help him”(Dan.11:45).
In his bid to rule the World in place of God, He shall come to His demise. He shall meet his Waterloo. Precisely in the middle of the 70th week of Daniel, he shall transfer his headquarters to Jerusalem, from its previous location in the land of Magog or perhaps from Babylon if he had already relocated their from the land of Magog earlier on as some biblical scholars suggest. Following the transfer of his headquarters to Jerusalem, Israel, the antiChrist shall massively surrounding Jerusalem with his armies. This is the Jerusalem Campaign. These are the armies of his three power base nations of the Eighth And Final Beast Empire, the armies of the nations of Magog, Meshech, and Tuval.
“And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are Judea flee to the mountains: and them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them who are in the countries enter thereinto.”(Luk.21:20,21).
The surrounding of Jerusalem with armies coincides with the abomination of desolation when the antiChrist transfers his headquarters to Jerusalem.
“when ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the Holy Place,(whoso readeth, let him understand:) then let them which be in Judea flee to the mountains”(Matt.24:15,16).
“But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand,) then let them that be in Judea flee to the mountains”(Mk.13:14).
The surrounding of Jerusalem with armies, and the abomination of desolation occur at the same time, at the midpoint of the 70th week of Daniel, when the antiChrist relocates his headquarters to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. On arrival on the Temple Mount, he and his acolytes will violate the sacred precincts of the rebuilt Third Temple on Mount Moriah by threading on it. He will enter into the Holy Of Holies of the Temple forbidden to the Gentiles. He shall desecrate its sacred altars. Like His prefigure, the seventh Greek ruler of the Seleucid dynasty Antiochus Theos Epiphanes, he shall offer forbidden unclean animals on the rebuilt Jewish Altar Of Holocaust. He shall import a statue of himself into the Holy Of Holies of the rebuilt Third Temple. This is the abomination of desolation standing where it ought not. He shall deify himself. He shall demand to be worshipped by all mortals. He shall demand that all give allegiance to him by being branded with the mark of the Beast. This mark of allegiance is the number of man. It is 666(Rev.13:18).
It is an 18 digit computer bar code, much like our BVN of today with other biometric data specific to the individual. Before this time, there shall be a harmonisation of all biometric data worldwide. However, it shall be implanted on the forehead or right hand or left to avoid theft or loss, and for ease of verification by the enlivened images of the Beast stationed at strategic locations throughout the world. The enlivened images of the Beast have near field communication(NFC) readers that enables them to identify and distinguish those who are Beast branded from those who are not. Those who are chipped can buy and sell. Those who are not chipped could die of starvation unless they have earlier procured food, medicine, and other supplies ahead of time. Besides, they will be hounded, hunted down and coerced to be branded, or killed on refusal to be branded. It cannot be done by force. No one will be held down my force to be chipped. It will not count. Every person shall be given chance to accept to be branded, or killed on refusal to be branded. Forced branding is unacceptable, but people can be coerced to accept to be branded. Anyone who willing accepts and is branded is doomed for eternity. If any man accepts the mark of the Beast, the wrath of God abideth on him.
“And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, if any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the Holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who shall worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.”(Rev.14:10,11).
The Scriptures do not tell us when the Temple shall be rebuilt. All we are told is that a temple shall be standing at the Temple Mount by the midpoint of the 70th week for the antiChrist to desecrate it(Dan.9:27), and for the revelator John to measure it and those that worship therein, and to leave the outer court to the Gentiles to thread underfoot forty and two months(Rev.11:1-2). Any discussions as to the time of the building of the temple, or whether a full temple shall be built or a tabernacle-like structure erected, are in the realm of speculations.This end time scenario has not yet played out. So the Thessalonians had not yet missed it; for none of these events has occurred. Therefore prophesied events must occur before the day of Christ. Once again, the pretribulational doctrine of imminence is turned on its head.
Imminence is the cardinal pillar of pretribulational rapturism. It states contrary to Christ’s teaching in the Olivet Discourse and Apostle Paul’s teaching in 2 Thess.2, that no prophesied event must occur before the Rapture takes place. In other words, the Rapture can occur at any moment. Their doctrine of Imminence allows them to position the Rapture before the 70th week in the eschatological timeline. They also start the day Of Lord at the commencement of the 70th week of Daniel. We can see that That Day does not come until two vital events of the 70th week, the revelation of the antiChrist, and the attendant apostasy, the total abandonment of faith in the God of Israel by those with covenantal relationship with the God of Israel as a result of sever persecution by the antiMessiah occur.
They make no distinction between the wrath of Satan(Rev.12:12) which is directed towards the saints of the Most High, and the faithful remnant of Israel, and culminates in The Great Tribulation, and the wrath of God(Rev.6:17) which is directed towards the worshippers and adorers of the Dragon and the Beast-antiChrist, and culminates in The Armageddon Campaign.
What is offensive to me is ignorant people who arrogate to themselves a monopoly of understanding and interpretation of the word of God, and arrogantly, insolently and over-zealously urge us to believe the Rapture will take place before the Great Tribulation contrary to Paul’s teaching in his Second letter to the Thessalonians, and our Lord Jesus’ teaching in the Olivet Discourse(Matt.24, Mark 13, Luk.21), and the scroll of Revelation(Rev.6,7). The Church is never in danger of being “Left Behind” but of being “Caught Off Guard.” Satan’s method of deception is to tell A Big Lie, repeat it so often, and people will start believing it. Adolf Hitler used this same method to hoodwink the Germans, the most educated society in Europe and the whole World before the Second World War into believing that the Jews were suitable for nothing but the Gas Chambers and crematoria. Highly educated Germans were members of the Nazi Party. We can see that this method of repeated a Big Lie has worked before on civilised humanity. Satan is using his tested and proven method on the Church. Tell the Big Lie that the Church will not go through the Great Tribulation. Repeat it so often, and they will believe it. Tell them that God loves them so much that He does not want them to suffer. Tell them that the Blessed Hope of The Glorious Appearing of the Great God and our Saviour Jesus The Christ(Tit.2:13) shall be no longer blessed and glorious if the Church were to go through the horrors of the Great Tribulation. This is palatable because men naturally do not want to suffer. I myself writing do not want to suffer, but that does not change anything. It is not what we want, but what is in His plan.
How else can the Church be purified other than by fire. If anyone thinks that the Church is raptureable in her present state, he is deluded. We know the origin of this doctrine. It was purppotated to have come from a charismatic visionary teenager, Margaret MacDonald of the Plymouth Brethren in 1828. But this is false. The pamphlet by MacDonald stated clearly that the saints will go through the Great Tribulation, and that the antiChrist will be responsible for the Great Tribulation, and that God would use the Great Tribulation to purify the saints before Rapture. Besides, J. N. Darby was teaching that the Church would be raptured before the antiChrist shows up before the publication of the pamphlet by Margaret MacDonal in 1830. By the early 1900 it crossed the Atlantic to US, was popularised by C. I. Scofield in his popular reference Bible, The Scofield Reference Bible. From America, it crossed the Atlantic again to Africa. A lot of our pentecostalism and evangelicalism in Nigeria and the rest of Africa South of the Sahara is made in America with the teaching that God wants you to be prosperous and happy all the time. Could that be true when Jesus told His disciples,
“In the World ye shall have Tribulation; be of good cheer for I have overcome the World”(Jon.16:33 ).
“It is given unto us in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe in His name, but to suffer for His sake”(Phil.1:29).
“No chastening for the moment seemeth to be joyous but greavious, nevertheless, afterwards it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them that are exercised thereby”(Heb.12:11).
“Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord deliverers him from them all”(Ps.34:19).
“If we suffer with Him, we shall reign with Him”(2 Tim.2:12a).
Our brother Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles wrote to the Thessalonians,
“Remember that when I was with you, I told you that ye shall suffer Tribulation, and it came to pass”(1 Thess.3:4).
We must through much tribulation enter into the Kingdom( Acts 14:22 ). In the mouth of two or three witnesses, every word shall be established(2 Cor.11:2). Christianity without Tribulation is fake. Satan has recruited the best minds in Christendom to propagate this evil doctrine. They will harass you with their knowledge of Greek and Hebrew. They will lay emphases on obscure passages, and grey areas of the Scriptures while giving wild interpretions to or outrightly denying the obvious in their bid to befuddle the kinds of the simple.
It was not the original position of the Church. The historic churches do not preach it. Neither the Roman Catholics, nor the Anglicans believe in it. Those of them who do, learned it from the fundamentalist evangelicals and Pentecostals and Charismatics. Neither the Church Fathers nor the Didache taught Rapture before the Great Tribulation. It stretches credulity that an intelligent person who is not deluded by the machinations of the Evil One can read 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, and Matthew chapter 24, and come away with the impression that the Church will not go through the Great Tribulation. What is the need to warn about deception, to be watchful, prayerful, to be faithful and prepared if there is no danger to the Church?
Please brethren, pick up your Bible, a good concordance, pen and paper, and study this topic prayerfully for yourself, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. I recommend it because a brother and personal friend of mine who was a pretribulationist like I was did after he was challenged by another brother and friend, and found no biblical evidence for the pretribulational view of the Rapture, but rather found overwhelming biblical evidence for the Prewrath Rapture Position, i.e., that the antiChrist will manifest first, and perpetrate the Great Tribulation against the saints of God, the observant Jew, and other nonconformists and free thinkers before the Rapture occurs and the wrath of God is poured out on the remaining living wicked earth-dwellers who worship and adore the Dragon and the Beast by taking their mark of allegiance.
I came to this knowledge by studying the works of Marvin J. Rosenthal in his book, “The Prewrath Rapture Of The Church,” and his publications in his ministry’s bimonthly magazine, “Zion’s Fire,” and those of Robert van Kampen in his books, especially, The Sign. Their interpretations of the Scriptures were simple and accurate, based on face value hemanuetics. If you cannot do as my friend Dr Jeminusi has done, or as I have done, please find someone who knows to guide you. The first step to the acquisition of knowledge is recognition of one’s ignorance. Then one must throw away pride and arrogance, humble oneself, and sit at the feet of those who know. If Paul had not sat at the feet of Gamaliel, he would not have become a doctor of the Torah. If he had not submitted himself to Jesus when he met Him on the Road To Damascus, he would not have received such wonderful and insightful Revelation of the New Life In Christ. His question when he met Jesus was, “what would thou have me to do Lord?” We shall never be led astray if we ask the right people the right questions. Dr. Jeminusi has a power point presentation on his findings. He will be happy to forward it you if you request for it.
There was a minister known to me personally who zealously proclaimed the Church will not go through the Tribulation, and the Rapture will take place in his life time. Now he is gone, and the Rapture has not yet taken place. If anything, the antiChrist is gearing up to take over the World. The technology is down, the world is about to go cashless, the Big brother can monitor everyone. One World government, one World Religion, and one world currency. Israel is now an independent State. The Jews have remained control of Jerusalem. The Sanhedrin has been reconstituted, and the Cohen Gadol(the High Priest) appointed. The red heifer has also been found. Any moment from now, temple worship and animal sacrifice will be reintroduced. If you are expecting to be raptured before the antiChrist hangs out His shingles, you will be “caught Off Guard.” Be prepared(Matt.25:1-13) , be watchful(matt.24:36-44), be prayerful(Luk.18:1-8), and be faithful(Matt.24:45-51), and be fruitful(Matt.25:14-30).
The vast majority of Pretribulational writers teach that The Day Of The Lord will begin with the Rapture of the church, encompass the entire 70th Week of Daniel, the additional 75 days beyond the 70th week of Daniel, and the Millennium. This is the position of The New Scofield Reference Bible. It states that The Day Of The Lord
“will begin with the translation of the church and terminate with cleansing of the heavens and the earth.”
This was not the original view of Dr. C. I. Scofield. In the 1909 edition of his reference Bible, Dr Scofield began The Day Of The Lord at the start of the 70th Week of Daniel. In that edition of his reference Bible, he wrote,
“The Day Of Jehovah(called also, ‘that day’ and ‘the great day‘) is that lengthened period of time beginning with the return of the Lord in glory.”
Others who shared this view were disciples of Dr Scofield through the influence of The Scofield Reference Bible. Dr Louis Sperry Chafer, the founder of Dallas Theological Seminary, and its first president, in his work, Systematic Theology, also started The Day Of The Lord at Christ’s Second Advent to the Earth. He wrote that
“This lengthened period of a thousand years begins, generally speaking, with the second advent of Christ and the judgment connected therewith, and ends with the passing of the present heaven and the present earth.”
Dr Scofield changed his position in the later editions of his study Bible. In the 1917 edition of his study Bible, he made Pretribulation Rapture a major facet of his work. Students of Louis Sperry Chafer like John F. Walvoord, Charles Feinberg, Charles Caldwell Ryrie and Dwight Pentecost have modified his position to reflect a starting point of The Day Of The Lord from the beginning of the 70th Seven of Daniel.
In starting The Day Of The Lord from the start of the 70th Seven of Daniel, they erred. The vast majority of pretribulational writers rightly affirm that the Rapture must precede The Day Of The Lord. But they wrongly infer that if the Rapture is pretribulational, The Day Of The Lord must start with commencement of the 70th Week of Daniel. But there are a few of them however, like Paul Feinberg and Richard Mayhue who acknowledge that The Day Of The Lord starts at or beyond the middle of the 70th Seven of Daniel. In Spite of this realization, they have attempted to sustain Pretribulational Rapture Position. In so doing, they put a gap of three and one-half years between the Rapture and The Day Of The Lord. But the Scriptures do not permit such an extended gap between the starting point of The Day Of The Lord’s Judgment and the Rapture of the church.
On the contrary, the word of God teaches that the very day the church is raptured, The Day Of The Lord’s Wrath begins. Our Lord Jesus The Christ addressing His disciples in the Olivet discourse said,
“And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days of the Son Of Man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the Ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all”(Luk.17:26,27).
The point of the Lord’s teaching is that the very day that Noah entered the Ark, the flood came, and destroyed them all. In the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established. For confirmation and emphasis, Jesus gave them another example.
“Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the Same Day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.”( Luk.17:28,29).
The point of our Lord’s teaching is very clear here: On the same day that Lot and his family fled Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone, and destroyed them all. On the same day that Lot and his family fled Sodom, God judged Sodom. It is very clear here that the deliverance of the righteous and the immediate judgment of the living wicked earth-dwellers is used to illustrate the Second Coming of the Lord. That the Lord’s word, “Even so shall it be in The Day when The Son Of Man is revealed” removes every doubt.
Malvin J. Rosenthal has written:
“Deliverance of the righteous immediately precedes the judgment of the wicked. To postulate a period of time between Rapture(deliverance) and wrath(judgment) is to contradict the Scriptures.”
But The Day Of The Lord begins with the breaking of the seventh seal. And the Rapture occurs the same day that The Wrath of God begins. It therefore follows that if The Day Of The Lord begins with the breaking of the seventh seal, the Rapture cannot be pretribulational.
Here are some of the arguments that pretribulationists use to defend the premise that The Day Of The Lord begins at the commencement of the 70th Seven.
Firstly, pretribulationists designate the 70th week of Daniel The Tribulation Period. By that means, they build an a priori case for the Pretribulation Rapture Position. They also suggest that The Day Of The Lord is a time of God’s Wrath, and that The Tribulation Period, by its designation is time of wrath. Therefore, The Day Of The Lord must begin at the start of the 70th Seven of Daniel, The Tribulation Period. This assessment which is assumed repeatedly in most pretribulational literature is fallacious because the Scriptures no where designate or refer to the 70th Week of Daniel as The Tribulation Period. Besides, it cannot be demonstrated that the breaking of the first five seals reflect the outpouring of the wrath of God.
The breaking of the first seal signals the emergence of a multiplicity of false messiahs in the religious circle, and in the political circle, the antiChrist who is the ultimate False Messiah(Rev.6:1,2; Matt.24:5). At the breaking of the second seal, there are wars, commotions, threats, and rumors of wars(Rev.6:3,4; Matt.24:6,7a; Mk 13:5,6; Luk.21:9,10). At the breaking of the thirst seal, there are famines, pestilences and earthquakes, which are the natural consequences of wars(Rev.6:5,6; Matt.24:7b,8; Mk 13:7,8a; Luk.21:11a ). With the breaking of the fourth seal, The Great Tribulation(Rev.6:7,8; Matt.24:9-28; Mk 13:9ff; Luk.21:12-24), the time of Jacob’s Trouble(Jer.30:7), a time of distress or trouble(Dan.12:1) begins. The breaking of the fifth seal reveals the souls of the martyred saints during the Great Tribulation under the golden altar of incense in Heaven(Rev.6:9-11).
The fifth seal is a heavenly scene which is a reflection of the martyrdom of the saints going on here on Earth under the fourth seal. It does not necessarily advance the chronology of events here on Earth. It reveals the arrival of the souls of the martyred saints during the Great Tribulation by the antiChrist in Heaven. Not until the breaking of the sixth seal, which initiates cosmic disturbances does God begin to actively intervene in the affairs on Earth at that time. With the breaking of the sixth seal, God’s wrath is about to commence(Rev.6:12-17; Matt.24:29; Luk.21:24-28). God uses the sixth seal, the cosmic and celestial disturbances to terminate the killing of the saints going here on Earth(Matt.24:22). But the outpouring of the wrath of God does not begin until after the appearance of the Shekinah in the heavens, the sealing of the 144,000, and the Rapture of the church which occurs at the breaking of the seventh seal, which is the last trump(Rev.6: 14-17; 7-8:1-6; Matt.24:29-31;Luk.21:25-28).
Secondly, some pretribulationists argue that the second, third and fourth seals of Revelation 6 indicate wars, famines, and earthquakes, which is true as we have shown above. They also go on to suggest that war is a method of God’s judgment(Lev.26:21-28; Ezekk.14:21); famine is a method of God’s judgment (Deut.11:17; Ezek.4:16,17); and pestilence is a method of God’s judgment (Num.11:33; 16: 46). And all these seals with the exception of the fourth which is broken precisely in the middle, are broken in the first half of the 70th seven of Daniel. Inasmuch as these Scriptures indicate that these instruments of death, wars, famines, pestilences and earthquakes, are expressions of God’s wrath, and The Day Of The Lord is a time of God’s wrath; it therefore follows that The Day Of The Lord starts at the beginning of the 70th week of Daniel.
There is no doubt that God uses wars, famines, pestilences and earthquakes as means of divine wrath and judgment. The question is whether the wars, famines, pestilences and earthquakes of the first three seals of Rev.6 originate in Satan’s wrath which are given vent through human expression, man’s inhumanity to man, or are the wrath of God administered directly by Him? As we have seen, God plays no role in the first five seals of Rev.6. They all originate in human activities orchestrated by Satan through his minion, the antiChrist, although God is in sovereign control as the sovereign Lord of the universe, hence the supervision by the four living creatures. Men also start wars, cause famines and generate pestilences.
If God is responsible for the second and third seals, He must also take responsibility for the first which signals the emergence of the antiMessiah. If the first four seals are attributed to God, it therefore follows that God is responsible for the Great Tribulation during which the saints are singled out for extermination due to their refusal to bear the mark of allegiance to the antiMessiah. If the first four seals are God’s wrath, it therefore follows that God alone must take credit for the emergence of the antiChrist and his counterfeit religious system that is responsible for the martyrdom of His saints.
It is preposterous to attribute the emergence of the antiMessiah to God. That would mean that God has a divided house, and that God is responsible for that division within His house. And we know that a divided house cannot stand(Luk.11:17,18). How can God be responsible for the emergence of the antiMessiah which signals a movement towards the ultimate rebellion against God; the deification of man by man at the Third Temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem(2 Thess.2:4,5).
Having failed with subtle peace diplomacy to gain the whole world to himself, the antiChrist will plunge the whole world into war, the red horse and rider(the second seal). With the heavy equipments of modern military technology, any world war will be devastating on the Earth. The resultant devastation of wars will cause famines and earthquakes, and the predictable insanitary conditions will lead to pestilences(third seal, black horse and rider). Famines, pestilences, earthquakes cause death, aside from the deliberate annihilation of those who fail to comply with the antiMessiah by taking his mark of allegiance(the fourth seal, the pale horse and rider). This historic pretribulational, and premillennial interpretation of the first four seals agrees with the PreWrath Rapture Position which is biblically accurate. But to attribute the first four seals of Rev.6 to God is biblically unfounded. It stretches credulity to think that once The Day Of The Lord’s Wrath begins, the antiMessiah can assume control of the world and wreak such havoc on the Earth and humanity.
It is even more egregious to start the commencement of the wrath of God from the beginning of the 70th week when we consider the fifth seal of Rev.6. With the breaking of the fifth seal, martyrs under the altar of incense in Heaven are revealed. These are the believing remnants of faithful saints who have not bowed to the antiMessiah, who were killed due to their refusal to capitulate to the authority of the antiMessiah. These are not resurrected saints. They are disembodied spirits. They are souls without glorified eternal immortal resurrection bodies. They are seen under the altar of incense of the Temple in Heaven crying out to God for vengeance, with a loud voice saying,
“How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?”(Rev.6:10; cp. Matt.24:9-26).
If the seals are God’s wrath, the implication is obvious. God must take credit and responsibility for the martyrdom of His own faithful children, who refuse to give allegiance to the antiMessiah and bow to the image of the Beast, thereby forfeiting their lives. God must be held accountable for the martyrdom of His faithful saints who are humble and obedient to Him. Preposterous one may say, and that is absolutely correct. The very testimony of these martyrs belies the attribution of their martyrdom to God. They pleaded with God for divine retribution against their persecutors. God told them to patiently wait until their fellow brethren on Earth who are to be martyred are also killed. There is a certain number or complement of believers to be martyred. It is a divine secret; it is not revealed to us in the Scriptures.
“The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.”(Deut.29:29).
Immediately that number is complete, God will amputate The Great Tribulation.
“Except those days were cut short, no flesh(in context, observant Jews and Christians, and other nonconformists) will be saved”(Matt.24:22).
This is the one singular most important reason why the seals cannot be God’s wrath, and The Day Of The Lord Wrath and judgment cannot begin at the beginning of the 70th week of Daniel, the so called Tribulation Period.
Thirdly, pretribulationists teach that because it is the Lamb of God who has the authority to take the seven sealed scroll from the right hand of Him that sits upon the throne, break the seals, and open the scroll which leads to the unfolding of the events of the 70th week of Daniel(Rev.5,6), therefore the entire 70th week of Daniel is the outpouring of His Wrath.
The Seals Are Not God’s Wrath
This argument does not make a distinction between the active will and permissive will of God, both of which are under His Sovereignty. Furthermore, it rests on an inadequate understanding of God’s purpose for the 70th week of Daniel.
Jesus as the Son Of God and the Son Of Man is given the seven sealed Scroll which is the Title Deed of the Earth. He as the True Adam, the Second Man who is the Lord from the Heavens(1 Cor.15:47), is the Father’s representative in the earthly domain of His Universal Kingdom. He as the sovereign Lord of the Earth is bringing the history of This Age, “Olam Haze” to a consummate ending. The termination of this Age is the inauguration of The New Age, the Age to come, “Olam Haba.” Christ told His disciples,
“…. and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the ages”(Matt.28:20).
From the start of the breaking of the seventh seal to the end of The War Of Armageddon is The End Of The Ages. Jesus will be with His disciples till the start of the breaking of the seventh seal which marks the commencement of The End Of The Ages, which is the beginning of the outpouring of the wrath of God. The saints are exempt from the wrath of God.
“and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.”(1 Thess.1:10 KJV).
“For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,”(1 Thess.5:9 KJV).
Therefore they must be physically removed(evacuated) from the Earth before the wrath of God begins. This period of time from the start of the breaking of the seventh seal to the end of the war of Armageddon is The End Of The Ages or simply The End.
“And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto The End, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the World for a witness unto all nations; and then shall The End come”(Matt.24:12-14).
The End begins with the breaking of the seventh seal. When the End has come, there will be no preaching of the Good News of the Kingdom. Why? Because the saints who have the message of the Gospel have been evacuated from the Earth, the scene of God’s wrath. God’s grace period is over. What remains is God’s judgment of the unrighteous wicked who remain.
The persecution, the Great Tribulation is to go on till the end of the ages. He that endures till the end of the ages shall be saved, redeemed or rescued, that is, physically removed(evacuated) from the Earth’s premises, the scene of the persecution. This gospel must be preached to the whole world, then shall the end(the end of the ages) come. Jesus is in sovereign command of all the events of the End times; everything must work in accordance with His preordained plan. Besides, He is working out different plans and purposes during the 70th Week of Daniel which relate to the distinctive significance of the seals, trumpets, and bowls of the Scroll of Revelation.
In the world of the Bible, seals signify authenticity, protection and ownership. They are also for the purpose of legalization and identification. The believer in Christ Jesus is sealed with the Holy Spirit which is the earnest(initial payment) of our inheritance(Eph.1:13,14). The indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the believer is the absolute guarantee that his or her eternal salvation is secure.
“That He who began a good work in him or her will be faithful to complete it(Eph.1:6); and that no power in heaven and under the Earth will thwart His divine purpose for the redeemed. It is quite comforting to know that nothing can come upon us, even in the midst of the worst of man’s inhumanity to man, a time when the antiChrist demands that men bow, capitulate to his authority or be annihilated, except that which has passed through the security of His ineffable love. Even in the midst of The Great Tribulation, nothing can happen to the child of God except that which The Almighty God, in His Sovereign will permits. During The Great Tribulation, the believer shall be delivered up to be afflicted and killed(Matt.24:9).
“And when He had broken the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and the testimony which they held”(Rev.6:9).
Under these circumstances, the context of the 70th Week, the profound truth which is revealed in the word of God, becomes very relevant:
“And fear not them who kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell”(Matt.10:28; Luk.12:5).
We should not fear man who after destroying the body has no power over the soul, but rather we should fear God who has power, after destroying the body, to cast the eternal soul into hell fire. The soul of man is indestructible; every soul of man is eternal. The soul and spirit of man cannot be annihilated. When the Bible speaks of eternal life, it is the quality of that life that is in view. Some, the saints, the elect of God will spend eternity in the heavenly Jerusalem, but the wicked, the condemned will spend eternity in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone. This is the second death.
The Scroll of Revelation, the Title Deed of the Earth, has the seven seals of the Almighty, indicating that He is the Lord of the Earth(Rev.5:1,5).
“Blessed be Abram of the Most High God, possessor of the heaven and the Earth”(Gen.24:19).
Jesus, thanking the Father for the successful mission of His disciples, addressed Him as “Lord of Heaven and the Earth”(Matt.11:25).
Prior to the commencement of the wrath of, shortly before the Rapture of the church, the 144,000 from the twelve tribes of Israel are sealed with seal of God for identification and protection during the outpouring of His wrath(Rev.7:3); for God will not leave Himself without witnesses on Earth.
The Seals Of Revelation 6
Some pretribulation commentators also are of the opinion that the seals of Revelation 6 are not God’s wrath, but originate in the evil activities of men. John F. Walvoord commenting on the seals said:
“The judgment of war, famine, and death, and the martyrdom of the saints have largely originated in human decisions and in the evil heart of men.” Leon Morris wrote, “The first four seals form a unity. They show us the self-defeating character of sin. When the spirit of self-aggrandizement and conquest is abroad, all God need do is let events take their course and sinners will inevitably be punished.” William Newell commenting on the fifth seal of Revelation 6 wrote, “This fifth seal exhibits especially three things….; Third, the utter wickedness of the earth which is plainly expected to go on martyring the full complement of God’s saints.”
As we have pointed out earlier, the fact that our Lord Jesus breaks the seals, signifies amongst other things, the assurance of eternal security for the martyred saints. The antiMessiah, under the permissive will of God can touch their bodies, but not their souls. The seals are not God’s wrath. They are God’s promise of eternal protection and security during man’s wrath, which is precipitated and perpetrated by the antiMessiah who is empowered by Satan(Rev.13:4). This is the ultimate manifestation of the principle, “surely the wrath of man shall praise thee”(Ps.76:10). The first four seals affects one-fourth of the earth’s population(Rev.6:8). That the Lord Jesus is in sovereign control of the breaking of the seals guarantees divine protection and eternal salvation for the faithful saints who are martyred.
In a discussion of the seals, Gary Cohen wrote,
“The first four seals are seen to contain providential-type judgments. Such judgments are those which God, in His holy and wise control of all things in the world, permits to rise up out of natural causes.”
David Cooper who is a staunch defender of the Pretribulation rapture position wrote,
“At the breaking of each of the four seals, there appears upon the earth a rider upon a certain colored horse. These horses are symbols of movements and events of that period. This movement brings the antiChrist to power….. A martyrdom of Tribulation saints occur at the breaking of the fifth seal. All of the things which occur under the first five seals are brought about and engineered by men who instigate and carry forward these events as indicated in Rev.6:1-11.”
As we have pointed earlier, nothing can come upon the believer except that which God in His sovereign will permits. That God is in sovereign control is elegantly attested to by the fact that He breaks the seals, and supervises the sounding of the trumpets and the outpouring of the bowls. To teach that the first five seals are God’s wrath contradicts the evidence of the Scriptures, and the views and testimonies of the overwhelming majority of biblical scholars and commentators on the Scroll of Revelation. Our Lord Jesus spoke of the first five seals as signs of His coming, no where does He say they are His wrath.
The Trumpets
In ancient Israel as well as in the modern State of Israel, the trumpet served two major purposes. Firstly, it was and is still being used to call a solemn assembly, in other words to gather the people of Israel in the presence of God. Therefore it was sounded on Israel’s feast days and at the New moon(Lev.23:24-25; Num.10:2-3,7,10; Ps.81:3). Secondly, it was blown to sound an alarm for war and judgment(Num.10:9; Jere.4:19; Joel 2:1). When Israel went to war with its enemies it was to bring judgment on the enemies of God. The trumpet judgments will accomplish precisely these two purposes. At the breaking of the seventh seal which opens into the seven trumpets, the church will be raptured into the presence of God, that is, called as it were into God’s presence. We will meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with Him(1 Thess.4:16,17). At the same time, the eschatological Day of the Lord judgment on the Gentile nations that know not God will begin. It will be meted out on both unrepentant Jews(Ezek.20:30-38), and impenitent Gentiles(Is.2:12-22; 24:20-23).
The Bowls
As we have pointed out several times earlier, the Greek word translated bowl in the KJV is “phiale.” It is from this word that we derive the English word vial. Unlike in ancient Israel and in the Roman world, the vial used in modern medicine is a narrow-throated vessel. In ancient Israel and in the Roman world, it was a wide rimmed shallow dish or saucer, the content of which could easily be discarded with a quick swish. Just as Muslims use kettles, an observant Jew would use such a dish for ritual cleansing of hands before the Shabbat, and for a variety of other religious observances, at the end of which he discards the dirty water with a quick swish because the bowl was wide rimmed and shallow. The rapid outpouring of the dirty and useless content of the bowl became a metaphor, a descriptive language for the outpouring of God’s wrath on the Gentile nations that know not God.
The psalmist pleaded with God,
“pour out thy wrath upon the nations that have not known thee, and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon thy name. For they have devoured Jacob, and laid waste his dwelling place”(Ps.79:6,7).
In the same vein, Jeremiah, the weeping prophet of Israel, made the same plea to God,
“Pour out thy fury upon the nations that know thee not, and upon the families that call not on the name; for they have eaten up Jacob, and devoured him, and consumed him, and have made his habitation desolate”(Jere.10:25).
Both of these passages of the Scriptures speak of the pouring out of God’s judgment on the nations that have not known Him, and that the outpouring of God’s wrath on them will be based on their treatment of the descendants of Jacob, both natural and spiritual.
God Himself responded affirmatively in Zeph.3:8.
“Therefore wait ye upon Me, saith the Lord, until the the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them my indignation, even all my fierce anger; for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.”
The Lord will do this because He is jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with great jealousy, because He is sore displeased with the heathen that are at ease; for He was a little displeased with Israel, and the Gentiles helped forward the affliction.
“So the angel that communed with me said unto me, Cry thou, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy. And I am very sore displeased with the heathen that are at ease: for I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction.” Zech.1:14-15 KJV).
God wanted to use the Gentiles nations to punish Israel for her sins and disobedience to Him, to correct, cleanse and purge her from her sins, but the Gentiles were overbearing in meting out divine justice to Israel, and exceeded the bounds of divine justice and decency because of their jealousy and hatred of Israel. In return, God shall reward them evil for their iniquities and wickedness(Isa.10:5-33).
So, there is a divine judgment of the nations, excluding Israel. For this purpose, the surviving remnant of Israel shall be hidden in Azal, taken to protective custody as it were. In the light of this judgment and the exemption of the Jewish survivors, the prophet Zechariah wrote,
“And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the Lord my God shall come , and all the saints with thee.”(Zech.14:5).
In the same vein, the prophet Isaiah wrote,
“Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.”(Is.26:20).
We can see very clearly here that Israel is exempt from the bowl judgments.
The specific judgment of God upon the Gentile nations from which, as we have pointed out Israel is exempt, shall begin at the end of the 70th Week of Daniel. At the sounding of the seventh trumpet, Our Lord Jesus the Christ shall return literally to the Earth, reclaim God’s rule over the Earth usurped by Satan(Rev.11:15-17).
The Feasts Of Israel In The Extra 75 Days
According to Jewish calendar, the 70th week of Daniel ends on the Day of Atonement(Yom Kippur) which also corresponds with the end of the ministry and the death of the two witnesses. This is the occasion of Israel’s national Day Of Atonement(Zech.12:10). Five days later will be the Jewish feast of Sukkot or Tabernacles. This will be the fifth day into the 30-day Reclamation Period Of The Kingdom, the extra 30 days following the end of the 70th Week of Daniel(Dan.12:11). On this day, the trumpet shall be blown in accordance with Jewish custom on every feast day. This shall correspond with the sounding of the seventh trumpet, at which instance God Almighty reclaims His rulership of the Earth through His human representative, an Adam, our Lord Jesus The Messiah, over the earthly domain of His Universal Kingdom. The Jewish Feast Of Hanukkah or The Feast Of Lights occurs 75 days after Yom Kippur or 70 days after Sukkot. Therefore Hanukkah shall fall on the last day of the 45-day Restoration Period of the kingdom(Dan.12:12). This will be the commencement of the mellinnial reign of Christ.
Therefore, the judgment of the nations will be poured out, beginning with the blowing of the seventh trumpet on the First Day Of Sukkot(Rev.11:18) which is the 5th day of the 30-day Reclamation Period of the kingdom. Concerning that day, the prophet Zechariah wrote,
“And it shall come to pass, in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem “(Zech.12:9).
The judgment of God on the nations will be swift, encompassing the seven bowl judgments which shall be poured out, emptied upon the Gentiles nations in a brief period of 24-25 days of the 30-day Reclamation Period Of The Kongdom(Dan.12:11).
The Pretribulation Rapture position is built on the premise that the church is exempt from the wrath of God which is biblically accurate, but on the inference that the wrath of God begins at the beginning of the 70th week of Daniel which is biblically inaccurate. A cursory look and examination of The Day Of The Lord passages in Scriptures indicate that it is a period of unprecedented, awesome judgment of the nations by direct divine intervention in the affairs of men. What the mouth of the Lord has spoken, His right hand of righteousness will perform. During the wrath of God, the omnipotent arm of God is depicted unleashing God’s righteous indignation and judgment on impenitent and recalcitrant nations of the world that know not God neither obey Him.
The foundations of this planet Earth shall shall be shaken and reel to and fro and wobble under the impact of God’s wrath like a drunken man. The proposition that the antiChrist will rise to power, emerge as the ultimate demagogue, establish a worldwide rule, relocate his headquarters to Jerusalem, erect a statue or image of himself in the Holy Of Holies of the rebuilt Jewish Temple on Mount Moriah, apotheosize himself, demand worship of all mortals, kill multitudes of Jews and Christians and Gentiles who refuse to bow to his authority and comply with his demands(Rev.13:1-8) – all of these exetending over a period of three and one- half years into the Day Of The Lord- cannot be seriously entertained in the light of the biblical characteristics of The Day Of The Lord. The Day Of The Lord does not last for that long a period. Besides, only the Lord is exalted in that Day, and the haughtiness of men and their lofty looks shall be brought low. Concerning this the prophet Isaiah wrote,
“Enter into the Rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of His majesty. The lofty looks of men shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. For the day of the Lord shall be on every one that is proud and lofty, and upon everyone that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low: and upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan, and upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up, and upon every high tower, and upon every fenced wall, and upon the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant pictures. And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and The Lord alone shall be exalted in That Day. And the idols He shall utterly abolish. And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of His majesty, when He ariseth to shake terribly the earth. In That Day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they have made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats; to go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the Lord, and the glory of His majesty, when He ariseth to shake terribly the earth. Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of? “(Is.2:10-22).
The idols of gold and of silver mentioned here are the little images of the antiMessiah which those who have taken his mark of allegiance shall be instructed to make for the purpose of private worship of the beast-antiChrist. At the breaking of the sixth seal, John the revelator wrote,
“And the Kings of the Earth, and the Great Men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the Mighty Men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and the rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on The Throne, and from theWrath Of The Lamb: for The Day Of His Wrath is come ; and who shall be able to stand? “(Rev.6:15-17).
John the revelator makes it clear that at the breaking of the sixth seal, all the living wicked earth-dwellers will suddenly realize that atheism and evolution are religious and scientific insanity respectively. The Richard Dawkins will throw away all their tons of books on evolution to seek refuge in the caves and tops of the ragged rocks from the Wrath of Him that sitteth on the throne of the Universe and from the Wrath of the Lamb of God, who executes God’s vengeance on the wicked who forsake God. In That Day, all the edifices of human achievements in defiance to God, all the Towers of Babel that men have built for themselves in defiance to God, whether they be religious, educational, whether they be in the realm of entertainment, military, commerce or industry shall become like the proverbial hill of beans and house of cards. In addition to the men themselves, they shall be consumed in the divine conflagration.
We can see that starting the Day Of The Lord at the start of the 70th Week of Daniel, not only creates an insurmountable exegetical problem, but also compounds it by standing in opposition to the clear teaching of the Scriptures that the Day Of The Lord begins with the breaking of the seventh seal of Revelation 8 after the cosmic disturbances.
The Breaking Of The 7th Seal: The Start Of The Day Of The Lord
There is a clear evidence and overwhelming testimony that The Day Of The Lord is preceded by cosmic and celestial disturbances of considerable magnitude. Isaiah prophesied that the day of the Lord will be antedated by cosmocelestial disturbances.
“Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate; and He shall destroy the sinners out of it. For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light; the sun shall be darkened in it’s going forth, and the moon shall not cause it’s light to shine”(Is.13:9,10).
The prophet Joel testified also that the day of the Lord shall be preceded by cosmic and celestial disturbances.
“Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision; for the Day Of The Lord is near in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining”(Joel 3:14,15). He also said, “And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: blood and fire and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord”(Joel 2:30,31).
That The Day Of The Lord shall be predated by cosmic and celestial disturbances, the Scriptures are precise. One cannot but notice the precision that there will not only be cosmic disturbance, but that it shall be before the day of the Lord. The evidential conclusion here is obvious. If The Day Of The Lord begins at the beginning of the 70th week of Daniel as the pretribulationists would have believe, it therefore follows that the 70th week of Daniel must be preceded by cosmocelestial disturbances. There is no legitimate biblical alternative evidence. This evidence poses an enigmatic and insurmountable exegetical problem for pretribulationists.
A major facet and pillar of the Pretribulational Rapture Position is the concept and doctrine of imminence. Imminency is the teaching that no prophesied event must occur before the Rapture takes place. In other words, the Rapture must occur without being preceded by any prophesied event. It can occur at any moment. John F. Walvoord, the former president of Dallas Theological Seminary declared that imminency is the “Heart of pretribulationism,” and so do the majority of pretribulationists after him. However, if the day of the Lord starts at the commencement of the 70th week of Daniel, and a prophesied event, cosmic disturbance must occur first, it therefore follows that cosmic disturbance must occur outside of the 70th, before it actually begins. Some of them also teach that the last event that shall occur before the Rapture takes place is Gog and Magog war(Ezek.38,39). Is Gog and Magog war not a prophesied event? We can see from here that imminency, the central pillar of Pretribulation rapturism is biblically inaccurate, and therefore indefensible and untenable.
The Timing Of The Cosmic Disturbance
The Timing Sequence Of The Events Of The End Times
Since the cosmic disturbance is the precursor to The Day Of The Lord, is it possible to know when it will occur? Yes! The Scriptures are very clear as to the precise time when the cosmic disturbance will occur. In the Olivet discourse, our Lord Jesus the Christ said,
” Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heaven shall be shaken: and then shall appear the sign of the Son Of Man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son Of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other”(Matt.24:29-31).
Here we can see that the cosmic disturbance occurs way into the second half of the 70th week of Daniel, after the Great Tribulation by the antiChrist.
John the revelator lends his voice as to the timing of the cosmic disturbances. This should not surprise us as Jesus is the actual author of the Scroll Of Revelation, John the revelator being His amanuensis. So, Jesus is the author of both the Scroll Of Revelation as well as the Olivet discourse.
“I beheld, when he had broken the sixth seal and, lo, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood; and the stars of heaven fell into the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind”(Rev.6:12,13).
We can see here too that specific cosmic disturbances occur way into the second half of the 70th week at the breaking of the sixth seal of Revelation 6. Some interpreters of the pretribuation persuasion have tried to negate the significance of this truth by trying to conflate it with the heavenly disturbances of the fourth trumpet judgment(Rev.8:12). Unfortunately, there is no parallel of thought or language to warrant such association. Besides there is a convergence of thought and language in other passages of the Scriptures(Is.13:10; Ezek.32:7,8; Joel 2:31), as do the evangelists Mark and Luke in the Olivet discourse(Mark 13:24,25; Luk.21:25). Also this particular cosmocelestial disturbance is in perfect conformity with the chronology of the Olivet discourse in Matt.24. How far inside of the 70th week of Daniel the breaking of the sixth seal occurs has been answered by Matt.24:29; after the Tribulation of those days.
Many biblical scholars have recognized and called attention to the similarity and parallelism between Mattthew(Matt.24:5-8) and the four horses and riders of the Apocalypse(Rev.6:1-8). That similarity is self-evident, and does not need any stretch of the imagination.
First Seal: White horse and rider
This is false religion personified in the antiMessiah who conquers by subtle peace diplomacy, deception and political intrigue(Rev.6:1-2). “For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many”(Matt.24:5).
Second Seal: Red horse and rider
The rider upon a red horse is given a sword, and he went forth conquering and to conquer. This signals war(Rev.6:3-4). “And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that ye be not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom”(Matt.24:6-7a).
Third Seal:Black horse and rider
The third seal is a rider upon a black horse who is given a scale to measure the food supply. Food is rationed in time of famine. This signals famine, a natural consequence of war(Rev.6:5-6).
“And there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes. All these are the beginning of sorrows( Matt.24:7b-8).
This is the end of the first three and one-half years. Famines, pestilences, and earthquakes are natural consequences of war. With modern military technology, any World War will have devastating effect on our planet.
Fourth Seal: Pale horse and rider
The fourth seal is a rider upon a pale horse who kills with hunger, sword and the beasts of the earth. This is the Great Tribulation when the antiMessiah starves to death, hunts down and kills those who refuse to bow to his authority. The beasts of the Earth are the enlivened robotic images of the antiMessiah equipped with AI which identify and cause to be killed those who do not give their allegiance to the antiMessiah by refusing to be beast-marked(Rev.6:7-8).
“Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my names sake. And then shall many be offended and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall arise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved…..”(Matt.24:9-28).
Many commentators of the Pretribulation persuasion conclude the comparison at this point. However, a close examination of the Scriptures shows that the comparison continues.
The Fifth Seal: The martyrs Under The Altar
The fifth seal reveals a complement of faithful saints martyred for their faith. They were martyred “for the word of God, and the testimony which they held”(Rev.6:9-11). The fifth seal is a heavenly scene, a reflection of the killing of the saints going here on earth under the fourth seal. Therefore it runs concurrently and is co-incident with the fourth seal, their disembodied souls and spirits arriving in heaven simultaneously as the killing is taking place on earth. “Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you, and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake”(Matt.:24:9).
The Sixth Seal: Cosmocelestial Disturbances
At the breaking of the sixth seal, there are cosmocelestial disturbances.
“And I beheld, when He had broken the sixth seal, lo, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood; and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind”(Rev.6:12,13). “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give its light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heaven shall be shaken”(Matt.24:29).
“But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give its light, and the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in the heavens shall be shaken”(Mark13:24,25).
“And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring”(Luk.21:25).
We can see from the above Scriptures that cosmic disturbance precedes The Day Of The Lord, and that it occurs at the breaking of the sixth seal. The sixth seal is broken after The Great Tribulation, and the The Great Tribulation is cut short or better still amputated, and ends before the expiry of the 70th Week(Matt.24:28; Mark 13.24; Luk.21:23-25). In Rev.6:12, the cosmic disturbance occurs after the martyrdom of the saints associated with The Great Tribulation by the antiMessiah, the fourth and fifth seals.
The sixth seal will darken the heaven and frozen the earth. The sign of the coming of the Son Of Man, The Shekinah in the heaven shall dispel the darkness and defrost the earth.
“And then shall appear the sign of the Son Of Man in the heavens”(Matt.24:30; cp, Mark 13:26; Luk.21:27).
The appearance of the sign of the coming of the Son Of Man in the heavens occurs after The Great Tribulation, but before the end of the 70th Week. What is cut short, amputated is The Great Tribulation, not the forty and two months allotted to the antiMessiah to persecute the saints of the Most High.
The fifth trumpet judgment alone lasts as long as five months. The first woe corresponds with the expiration of the fifth trumpet judgement. The sixth trumpet judgment is poured out but does not expire until after the end of the 70th week of Daniel. The second woe which marks the end of the sixth trumpet judgment, after the death and resurrection of the two witnesses occurs on the fourth day of the 30-day Reclamation Period Of The Kingdom. The seventh trumpet is blown on the 5th day of the 30-day Reclamation Period Of The Kingdom. Shortly before it is sounded, the mystery of God shall be finished, probably on the 3rd day of the 30-day Reclamation Period of the kingdom.
“Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.”(Hos.6:1-3 KJV).
At its sounding, God Almighty reclaims His rule over the Earth(Rev.11:15).
The appearance of the sign of the coming of The Son Of Man is related to the Rapture Of The Church and the Sealing Of the 144,000 surviving remnants of Israel. It occurs before the breaking of the seventh seal which marks the starting point of the wrath of God. The Rapture of the church and the outpouring of the wrath of God occur on the same day. Immediately the church is raptured, the wrath of God begins. The Rapture and the beginning of the outpouring of the wrath of God occur on the same day. God does not exempt His children from the wrath of Satan administered by man; but He does exempt them from His own wrath which is administered by Him. Noah was told to get into the Ark before the deluge, and Lot told to leave Sodom before God rained fire and brimstone on the cities of the plain. In like manner the church must be evacuated from the Earth and taken away to Heaven, raptured before the wrath of God begins.
God’s wrath begins with the breaking of the seventh seal. The seventh seal has no judgment of its own. And out of the seventh seal arises the seven trumpets. The cosmocelestial disturbances introduced with the breaking of the sixth seal are preludial to the Rapture of the Church and the commencement of The Day Of The Lord Wrath. In like manner, the seventh trumpet has no judgment of its own. Out of the seventh trumpet arise the seven bowls. The seventh bowl culminates in Armageddon.
The Cosmic Conflict is the struggle between God and Satan over the souls of men and the rulership of the earthly domain of the universal kingdom of God. It is the struggle between light and darkness, good and evil, righteousness and unrighteousness, life and death. In this conflict, God’s sovereignty is at stake. If Satan wins, man will forever be lost, and evil will reign supreme for ever, and Satan will be Lord over the Earth for eternity. But that cannot be allowed to happen, because the outcome is already determined in eternity past. It is no contest at all; for God is the foreordained victor.
Hi Satan is a spirit being created by God. Like all spirit beings, both men and angels, Satan is eternal. He can be restrained in the Lake that burneth with fire and brimstone for eternity, but cannot be annihilated totally. The body of man, the material part of Man(basar)can be liquidated, but man’s soul and spirit, the immaterial part of Man(nephesh) cannot be annihilated totally. Though Satan is an eternal being, he is neither omnipotent, nor omnipresent nor omniscient. He is limited in power, wisdom, knowledge and understanding. If he were wise enough, he would not have challenged God. Though sly, crafty, subtle and greasy, he lacked the sublime wisdom to remain humble under God.
This conflict which began before the dawn of time in the heavens will have its final hurrah on Earth. It began in eternity past and extends throughout all ages of human history. Like every other drama, the last act is understood in the light of every other previous act; it ties in and explains every other act. The director of this cosmic drama is the sovereign LORD of the universe.
The drama proclaims and fulfills His eternal Truth. The cataclysmic events of the end times, the tragic experiences of pain, sorrow, human suffering, terrorism, assassinations, targeted killings, sickness, disease, death, man’s inhumanity to man, sexual abuse of children(pedophilia), ritual killings and murders and all acts of wickedness and iniquity, wars, famines, tsunamis and earthquakes, droughts, excessive monsoon rains and flooding, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes, tropical storms, forest fires, the collective tears of humanity can only be understood, and are only explainable in the light of this cosmic drama.
Who will rule over God’s creation? Satan or God? Will the kingdoms of the Earth ruled over by the powers of darkness remain under the dominion of Satan, or will the kingdom of God ruled over by Christ prevail? This cosmic conflict will end in glorious victory for the kingdom of God, then shall Christ wipe away all tears, and there shall be no more death, sorrow, mourning, crying, or pain(Rev.21:4). Christ, God the Son, shall reign over the Earth in the behalf of God, the Father, for ever and ever(Dan.7:27).
The Origin Of The Cosmic Conflict
The Cosmic Conflict began in eternity past when Satan, the highest archangel of God, rebelled against God. Satan’s original name was Lucifer. In five I wills, Lucifer assayed to overthrow the sovereign LORD of the universe.
“He said in his heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High”(Isa.14:13,14).
God Almighty responded: “thou shall be brought down to Hell, to the sides of the pit”(Isa.14-15). Satan is not in Hell now, nor in the abyss, but both sentences will be accomplished in the end times.
Satan successfully lured one-third of the angels of God to join in his rebellion against God(Rev.12:3,4). A trial was held in eternity past. Satan was found guilty of insubordination and rebellion against the Almighty God. He was sentenced to eternity in the Lake of fire and brimstone together with his rebellious and evil angelic accomplices. Hell was originally built for Satan and his evil and fallen angels not man(Matt.25:41). But some men will wind up in Hell primarily because of unbelief.
“God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but shall have life of the age to come”(Jon.3:16).
Satan and his fallen angels were evicted from Heaven’s premises, and cast into the Dark Void and Starry heavens. Contrary to what many believe and teach, Satan’s headquarters is not in Hell, but in the Dark Void. Satan abhors and dreads going to Hell. It gives him nightmares. Satan wants to drag the whole of humanity into Hell with Him, if it were possible. Unfortunately and unpalatable as it were, some men will go to Hell with Satan. Some men like the rich man in the Gospel according Luke are already in Hell(Luk.16:23).
Satan appealed God’s judgment, accusing God of injustice. To prove His righteous judgment, God made man in His own image and likeness, higher than angels but a shade lower than God(Gen.1:26; Heb.2:6-8). He put man in the Garden of Eden and suffered him to rebel against Him. He meted out the same punishment to man:
“in the day that thou eateth of it, thou shall surely die”(Gen.2:17).
Death here implies eternal seperation from God in the Lake of fire and brimstone.
“The soul that sinneth, it shall die. As the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son: the soul that sinneth, it shall die”(Ezek.17:4,20). “The wages of sin is death”(Rom.6:23a). “And all have sinned, and fallen short of the glory of God”(Rom.3:23).
So, human history is an appeal trial of Satan, and His fallen evil and rebellious angels. The Universe is the divine court in session. Man is the guinea pig in the divine experiment. Satan and his fallen evil angels have made their choice: they are locked in unrighteousness. They can never repent. There is no divine provision for their redemption. But with man made in the image and likeness of God, it was not so. God made provision for the redemption of Man. Though the wages of sin is death, and all men have sinned and therefore fallen short of the glory of God, “but the gift of God is eternal life through our Lord Jesus the Christ”(Rom.3:23). Herein lies the origin of the cosmic conflict between God and Satan over the souls of men.
The Cosmic Conflict between God and Satan which began in eternity past will end at the expiry of the seventh millennium. God will put an end to Satan’s kingdom at the end of the sixth millennium, but evil itself will be finally dealt with at the end of the seventh millennium. During the millennial reign of Christ, Satan is incarcerated in Abyss for a thousand years. At the end of the millennial reign of Christ, following the final rebellion organized by Satan after he was paroled by God, which ended in a divine conflagration(Rev.20:11-15), Satan shall be cast into the Lake of fire and brimstone where the antiChrist and the false prophet have been cast into a thousand years previously. Every creature, human and angelic, identified with Satan, shall also be cast into eternal punishment in the Lake of fire and brimstone, where they will be tormented day and night for ever and ever(Rev.19:20; 20:10; 21:8).
The fall of Satan led to the fall of man. The fall of Adam is inextricably tied up with the fall of Satan. If Satan had not fallen, Adam would not have fallen either. It is doubtful whether Adam would have been created in the first place. But we must also bear in mind that God knows the end from the beginning. Therefore God knew Satan would rebel against Him. He knew that He would create man in His own image and likeness. He also knew Eve would be hoodwinked by Satan into eating the forbidden fruit. Eve was deceived, but Adam was not deceived. His was a deliberate disobedience which was worst than the sin of Eve(1 Tim.2:14). He preferred the company of Eve to fellowship with God.
Satan’s supreme ambition was to usurp the sovereignty of God over the Earth, especially over mankind, who was made in the image and likeness of God, and given authority over the Earth as God’s representative in the earthly realm of His universal kingdom(Gen.1:26-28). At creation, Adam and Eve were well provided for in the Garden Of Eden. The only restriction God put on them was that they were forbidden from eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. God told them: “in the day you eat of it, ye shall surely die”(Gen.2:17). Satan cast doubt into the mind of Eve, “had God said ye shall surely die? For God knows that in the day ye eat of it, your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil”(Gen.3:4,5).
In the conversation between Satan and Eve, Satan never questioned the existence of God. He did not use that approach because he could scarcely convince Eve that God did not exist, inasmuch as Adam and Eve had fellowship with God every evening(Gen.3:8). One can hardly convince another, that the person he or she fellowships with every evening does not exist. How can one convince another that his or her spouse is an illusion? But note that the end result of Satan’s argument is the same, that God does not exist. If Adam and Eve were God, then they were not created. If they were not created, there is no God, and they were God to themselves. This is one of the pillars of atheistic humanistic evolution. If there is no God, man is not created. If man is not created, he evolved. If he evolved, there are no moral absolutes, because God is the standard for morality. If there are no moral absolutes, everything is quicksand, everything is relative. One has only likes and dislikes. If it feels good, go ahead and do it. This is the same old lie that was told in the Garden of Eden. Moral relativism will lead to amorality. Amorality itself will lead to anarchy, total nomlessness which is utter chaos and confusion.
But God was not playing pranks with His words: eating the forbidden fruit would result in death. The day Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, they died. First, they died spiritually; they were separated from God, which was the worst of the consequences. Secondly, they died morally because sin and evil plagued them all the days of their lives. Thirdly, they died physically. Physical death is not annihilation. It is the separation of the physical body, the material part of Man(basar), the temporal, from the immaterial parts of Man, the spirit and the soul(nephesh), which are eternal.
Man was created to live for ever. The physical body of Adam was neither mortal nor immortal in its original form. If he had not disobeyed God, his body would have remained immortal. But because he disobeyed God, sin brought in corruption, decay, sickness, disease, and the aging process, and death. Even if there were no sickness and disease, the body would wear off and die as a result of the evil effects of sin on the human body. The aging process is a consequence of sin. If there were no sin, man would not age. If there were no sin, there would be no sickness and disease. If there were no sin, there would be no aches, no pains, and no sorrows. If there were no sin, men would not lie one to another. If there were no lies, there would be unbounded happiness, joy and celebrations. Because of sin, there would be wars, and men would kill one another in battle. Even beyond the pale of wars, in every society, even within families, due to envy and other evils, man would commit murders, rape, conduct ritual killings, infanticide, homicide, patricide and matricide, incest, paedophilia and everything else that is vile and evil.
When Adam and Eve disobeyed God, they lost their spiritual relationship with God, and the rulership of the Earth to Satan who became the god of this world(age, Greek: eion). Inadvertently, they chose the lordship of Satan over God’s. Not only Adam, and Eve and their posterity suffered corruption and alienation from God, the whole creation in the earthly domain of God’s universal kingdom fell sympathetically also. The whole world suffered curse and corruption as a consequence of the sin of Adam(Gen.3:17; Jer.12:4; Rom.5-12; 8:20). The woman shall conceive and reproduce in sorrow(Gen.3:16). Adam would eat out of the sweat of his brow(Gen.3:19). The Earth would no longer yield her increase(Gen.3:18). Entirely new laws were introduced by the new Lord of the Earth, Satan, that would govern the Earth. There would be earthquakes and Tsunamis and volcanic eruptions. There would be erratic weather patterns, excessive monsoon rains, floodings, rivers overflowing their banks, droughts and forest fires, soil erosions, insects pests and diseases and zoonoses etc. Does anyone have doubts that Satan is the god of this age?
Through sin, Satan succeeded in dethroning Adam from his rulership over the Earth, and arrogantly and insolently claimed that authority for himself. He is the ruler and the god of this age(Jon.12:31; 14:30; 16:11; 2cor.4:4; Eph.2:1-2). Through Adam’s willful act of disobedience, with the intension of serving himself, he ended up neither serving himself nor God, but Satan. Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned(Rom.5:13). From the fall of Man to the present, mankind have served Satan, with the exception of a limited number of righteous men in every generation. This state of affairs, God tolerates until the end of the sixth millennium, when He shall reclaim rulership of the Earth to Himself. Until God supernaturally takes over rulership of the Earth to Himself, the whole world will continue to lie in the vise grip, and magnetic field of the wicked one(1 Jon.5:19; cp. Luk.4:5,6).
When Satan rebelled against God, he became spiritually blinded and condemned. In like manner also, Satan led fallen humanity into spiritual blindness and condemnation, out of the kingdom and rulership of God, into the lordship and kingdom of Satan: for the god of this age has blinded the minds of them who believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ should shine unto them(2 Cor.4:4).
The Dramatis Personae In The Cosmic Conflict.
The characters involved in the cosmic drama are God and His holy angels on one side, and Satan and his fallen evil angels on the other side. The mass of humanity are caught in the crossfire. Man is not a passive innocent bystander but an active participant. In heaven and on Earth, the battle is raging over the souls of men. All mankind by default, through the sin of Adam, are citizens of the satanic kingdom. But God determined in eternity past, before the foundation of the Earth, to elect a people, from the mass of humanity, from the midst of the kingdom of darkness, who would submit to His Lordship, a people who whilst within the domain of the kingdom of darkness, the satanic kingdom, will be citizens of the mystery form of His spiritual kingdom, ruled by His indwelling Spirit in them. These are the ambassadors of Heaven on Earth(Eph.1:4,5). God also chose when to destroy Satan’s kingdom, when He has completed the spiritual kingdom of God, when He had delivered all that He has chosen, from the kingdom of darkness into the spiritual kingdom of God. God would then destroy Satan’s kingdom on Earth, and set up a physical kingdom on Earth, over which Christ would reign as His representative in the earthly realm of His universal kingdom.
Both God and Satan and their angels are spirit beings without physical bodies. Man also is a spirit being, but has physical body. Both God and His angels can acquire a form comparable to physical body of Man, appear visible to the optical eyes, in order to accomplish certain purposes. Satan and his evil and fallen angels can also do the same. Jesus is the only person of the Godhead with a permanent, glorified eternal immortal resurrection body. Due to the lack of permanent physical forms, both parties rule the Earth by proxy. The Cosmic Conflict is a proxy war. Although the cosmic conflict is rooted in the heavens, it is played out here on Earth, between the citizens of the kingdom of God, and the citizens of the kingdom of Satan. It is therefore somewhat ridiculous for anyone to imagine that the Church will be absent from the scene in the last act of this drama.
The Sovereignty Of God Over The Whole Universe.
In the heavens, and on Earth, the conflict is raging. This immense conflict began at the dawn of human history. It is between God, the sovereign LORD of the universe, the possessor of the heavens and the Earth, and Lucifer, the foremost archangel of God who rebelled against his creator in eternity past. In time Adam was satanically hoodwinked into joining in the cosmic conflict on the side of Satan in the Garden of Eden. Through Adam death was passed to all men; for that all have sinned. In Adam, all humanity died. With the exception of our Lord Jesus the Christ, the thought, imaginations of the heart, actions and lifestyle and value system of every man that have ever lived evidenced this satanic rebellion.
Because God is sovereign, the course and destiny of the universe is not at the mercy of uncertain outcome of a conflict between the forces of good and evil. As we pointed out earlier, the outcone of this immense and universal conflict is not in doubt. The victor was determined in eternity past, long before the conflict began. It is not really a contest, though internecine, inasmuch as God, the sovereign LORD of the universe is the preordained victor. It is not a conflict between equal and opposite forces that struggle for supremacy. Satan is a creature. God is the creator of all things. God has no beginning. Although Satan is an eternal spirit being, he has a beginning. Good is superior to evil. Good is eternal, evil is temporal. In relation to eternity, evil is ephemeral, transient. It is like a dim puff in a nebulous maze, a blip in eternity. Evil is the corruption of that which is good. Although the rebellion of Satan and Adam brought evil into the equation of human condition, God will ultimately preserve everything that is good, and defeat Satan and everything that is evil. All that is truly good in the universe is of God, and all that is evil is of Satan. Satan did not, does not, and will not create any good thing. All that he can claim as his own is evil. The thief cometh not but to steal, to kill, and to destroy(Jon.8:44).
There is a physical realm and a spiritual realm. Each of these realms fall into one of two domains, the domain of good and the domain of evil. Every spirit being in the whole universe belongs to either of the two domains. There is no sitting on the fence in this internecine conflict. Both amongst men and angels, one is either on the side of God or the side of Satan, on the side of good, the kingdom of God, or on the side of evil, the kingdom of Satan. There are men on Earth who deny the existence of Satan. All that are such, unconsciously belong to the kingdom of Satan.
God is the sovereign LORD of the universe. He ceded the rulership of the earthly realm of His universal kingdom to Adam(Ps.115.16). Adam sold out to the Devil. So, Satan became the god of this age. Satan’s rulership of Earth will expire at the end of God’s lease to Adam, which is the expiry of the sixth millennium. So, Satan’s rulership of the Earth is temporary. Therefore, Satan’s tenure and rulership of the Earth is temporary. God’s ownership and rulership of the Earth is eternal. So, Christ’s reign over the Earth shall be eternal. The kingdom of God on Earth is an eternal kingdom. It is the reign of righteousness. In contrast, Satan’s reign is one of evil. God’s kingdom is founded on truth, whereas Satan’s kingdom is founded on falsehood. Christ’s kingdom is the kingdom of light, whereas Satan’s is one of darkness.
God’s rulership encompasses the whole universe, while Satan is limited to the Earth. God is omnipotent, but Satan operates within the bounds of the power granted him by God. God is omniscient, but Satan is limited in knowledge. God is omnipresent, but Satan is not. His sphere of influence is circumscribed by God. Although, in the present age, Satan is god, he is not sovereign over the Earth. God is still sovereign over the Earth. He is the governor amongst the nations. He putteth down one king, and lifts up another(Ps. 75:7). When Nebuchadnezzar II, king of Babylon, became too arrogant, God Almighty who humbleth the insolent struck him with leucantropy. For seven years he ate straw like the ox, his nails and feathers grew like those of the eagle’s. He was wetted with the due of heaven, and His dwelling was amongst the beasts of the field, wetted by the dew of heaven, until he acknowledged that the Most High God ruleth over the realm of mankind, and bestows it to whomsoever He will, even the basest of men. And before Him, all the inhabitants of the Earth are reputed as nothing: and He doeth according to His will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the Earth: and none can stay His hand, or say unto Him, what doest thou(Dan.4:35).
Satan cannot do with the world as he pleases. He could not tempt Job without the permission of God. Even the extent of his temptation of Job was limited and circumscribed by God.
“There had no temptation taken you, but such as is common to man: and God will with the same temptation also make a way of escape, so that you shall be able to bear it”(1 Cor.10:13).
Satan like every other created being, has nothing apart from God’s sovereign provision. And nothing can come upon us except that which has passed through the security of His love. Satan like every other spirit being created by God is eternal but finite. Only God is infinite. Evil is the only thing Satan can lay claim as his own. Although evil is vast, pervasive and pernicious, it is circumscribed by divine limits, in degree, extent and time. Satan’s intelligence and power are from God, and therefore restricted by God. God is the life in His enemies. Satan’s rulership over the Earth is temporary, and will be terminated at the time appointed by God, at the end of the sixth millennium.
Divine Strategy In The Cosmic Conflict.
Whereas Satan thought he had prevailed, and would rule over mankind and the earthly domain of God’s universal kingdom for ever, God made it clear He would destroy Satan and his kingdom on Earth in His own sovereign time. It would be through the seed of the woman that God would destroy Satan and his kingdom on Earth.
“I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed”(Gen.3:15).
It therefore follows that a male descendant of the woman will bring about the ultimate downfall of Satan, and the destruction of the satanic kingdom. This seed would come from the line of Abraham(Gal.3:16). God told Abraham,
“I will bless you, and make your name great; I will bless those who bless you, and curse those who curse you. And in thee shall all the families of the Earth be blessed”(Gen.12:3).
Satan would bruise the offspring of the woman, Jesus The Christ. That meant that Jesus would die on the execution stake in order to redeem all mankind. But Jesus would rise from the dead, and crush the head of Satan. At His second advent, He will defeat Satan, and reclaim the rulership and retake physical possession of the Earth for the rightful owner, the Almighty God(Rev.11:15). At the expiration of the seventh millennium, Satan shall be cast into the Lake of fire and brimstone where he will be tormented for ever and ever(Rev.20:10).
In order to reclaim the earthly domain of God’s universal kingdom usurped by Satan, and redeem humanity who by default became citizens of the Satanic kingdom, God instituted a prophetic plan. This plan is simple and effective. Through this plan, God instituted a spiritual and an invisible kingdom, within the realm of the earthly satanic kingdom. God reigns from heaven over this invisible kingdom in the hearts of those who believe in Him whilst within the earthly domain of Satan’s kingdom. Today, God reigns in the hearts of believers who have received the new life in Christ, the life of the age to come, who have yielded themselves to God and His Son, Jesus the Christ. This is a temporary phenomenon, preludial to the future time at the expiration of the sixth millennium, when Yahweh would destroy Satan’s kingdom, and reestablish His rule over the Earth.
“And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.”(Dan.2:44,45).
This would occur during the millennium. Within that framework of time, God would establish a recreated order and dominion, which would be a consummation of the original prestine order that existed in the Garden of Eden prior to the Fall of Adam. Robert Van Kampen has brilliantly outlined the prophetic plan of God in six steps in his marvelous work, The Sign. We shall follow those steps in this article. I have added one to make it seven, the divine, complete and perfect number. The Messiah would be born of a woman of the line of Abraham through Jacob, that is Israel.
Step 1: God Elected Some People For His Kingdom.
Out of this world ruled by Satan, God in His infinite wisdom, chose some people, men and women for His kingdom over whose lives, He rules from Heaven through the agency of the indwelling Holy Spirit. These men and women of faith who come to God the Father through faith in the finished work of Christ, the Son, on the cross of Calvary are the spiritual descendants of Abraham, the father of the faithful(Gal.3:29; cp. Rom.4:11,12; 9:6,7; Rev.12:17).
In his epistle to the Ephesians, Paul explains that God the Father chose men and women who would trust and obey Him as citizens of His spiritual kingdom on Earth.
“According as He(God the Father) hath chosen us in Him(God the Son) before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love: having predestinated us unto the adoption of sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will(Eph.1:4,5).
In the interim, until the destruction of the kingdom of Satan on Earth, God’s kingdom on Earth will be a spiritual kingdom, invisible, without natural earthly boundaries, ruled by God, from Heaven, through the agency of the indwelking Holy Spirit, in the hearts of those who believe in Him. During the interrogation, before His crucifixion, when questioned by Pontus Pilate, governor of Judaea, Jesus answered,
“I am a king, and for this purpose came I into the world, but my kingdom is not of this age. If my kingdom were of this age, then would my disciples fight that I might not be delivered to the Jews.
He went on to say, everyone who is a citizen of God’s invisible spiritual kingdom hears my voice”(Jon.18:36,37).
Apostle Peter, writing about the children of God in this age, referred to them as aliens(1 Pet.1:1). This implies that these citizens of God’s invisible spiritual kingdom are governed by the laws of Heaven, not the laws of the earthly Satanic kingdom of the present age. In another place, Paul referred to them as ambassadors for Christ(2 Cor.5:20). In other words, these men and women are representatives of the heavenly kingdom on Earth.
We must not lose sight of the fact that these men and women were not thrown down from Heaven. In fact, like everyone else, they were once citizens of the earthy satanic kingdom. Paul, while writing to the Church at Ephesus, reminded them, that they are quickened, they were once dead in trespasses and sins;
“wherein in time past, you walked according to the course of this world, according to the Prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. But God who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses and sins, hath He quickened us together with Christ, (by grace are ye saved;) and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ”(Eph.2:1-2, 4-6).
As we pointed out earlier, the promise was given to Abraham: in thee shall all the families of the Earth be blessed(Gen.12:3). No one is a citizen of the spiritual kingdom of God on Earth, merely because he or she is of Jewish extraction. Salvation is always by faith. It is solely through divinely bestowed faith which God sovereignly grants those He had chosen before the foundation of the world, to be redeemed out of the kingdom of darkness(Gen.14:6; Eph.2:8; Heb.11:1,2). It is only those who receive this faith, both Jews and Gentiles, who are the spiritual offspring of Abraham, who are the true citizens of the invisible spiritual kingdom of God.
The promise made to Abraham and His descendants, that he would be the heir of the world, was not through the law, but rather through the righteousness of faith(Rom.4:13).
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works, lest any man should boast”(Eph.2:8,9).
Paul again, addressing the Romans said, they are not all Israel that are of Israel, neither are they children simply because they are the seed(descendants) of Abraham. So, we can see that not all who are of the natural line of Abraham are the citizens of God’s spiritual kingdom, but the children of the promise, that is, those who are elected in Christ, who have expressed faith in the risen Saviour(Rom.9:6-8).
Jesus had to speak harshly to the Jewish elders and religious leaders who arrogantly assumed that because they were of Jewish extraction, physical descendants of Abraham, they were also automatically the heirs of the spiritual kingdom that God promised Abraham. Jesus commentary on them was to jolt them out of that erroneous notion. It must have been shocking to them for Jesus to name Satan as their father, at the same denying that Abraham was their father.
Jesus made a distinction between His Father, and their father. I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and you do that which you have seen with your father. They answered and said unto Him, Abraham is our father. Jesus said unto them, if you were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham. But now ye seek to kill me, a man that had told you the truth, which I heard of God, this did not Abraham. Ye do the deeds of your father. They answered Him: We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God. Jesus said unto them, if God were your Father, you would love me: for I proceed forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but He sent Me. Why do you not understand my speech? Even because ye cannot hear my word(Jon.8:38-43).
These religious leaders of Israel did not understand Jesus. The reason they did not understand Jesus was very simple. They were not of God, the Father. Though they were physical offspring of Abraham, they were not his spiritual children. In other words, they had not the Faith of Abraham. They did not approach God by faith. Had they approached God by faith, they would have understood that Jesus came forth from the Father, that He did not come of His accord, but that the Father sent Him.
Can you imagine, the Magi, the wise men from the East, knew when Jesus was born:they saw His star in the East? They knew He was the king of the Jews. The king of the Jews is the king of the whole world. They came o worship Him. But the religious leadership of Israel, the Pharisees and the Sadducees did not know Him, and therefore could not recognize Him when He was born though they had all the facts about Him at the fingertips. Their reasoning was purely at the level of the physical. They were shocked that Jesus denied them the fatherhood of Abraham. How could Abraham be not our father when we are his physical descendants, and are not born out of wedlock. Jesus knew they were Abraham’s physical descendants, but He was referring to the fatherhood of Abraham through faith. These men did not have the faith of Abraham. Had they had the faith of Abraham, they would have comprehended the origin and teachings of Jesus. In other words they would have openly and publicly acknowledged and declared Him the Messiah of Israel and of all mankind.
Jesus told them the truth, but they did not receive it, and therefore could not believe Him. Did they find Him guilty of sin? Absolutely not. If He told them the truth, and they did not convict Him of sin, why then did they not believe Him? Again, the reason is very simple and basic.
“He that is of God heareth God’s word: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God”(Jon.8:45-47).
That is to say, they were not the spiritual children of Abraham, the children of Abraham by faith. To be of Jewish extraction is not a personal choice one makes, but a natural bestowal. But to be a child of Abraham through faith is open to everyone, Jew or Gentile. It is by choice. Being a physical descendant of Abraham through Jacob, does not automatically translate to being a spiritual heir and inheritor of the blessings of Abraham. One has to make a conscious effort to walk in the faith of Abraham. And that would invariably lead one to faith in Jesus, the Son of God and the Messiah of Israel and of all mankind.
This scathing criticism of the Jewish religious leaders was very offensive to the them. But that did not deter Jesus.
“Ye are of your father, the Devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is not truth in Him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of His own: for he is a liar, and the Father of it”(Jon.8:44).
Satan is not the creator. The only thing he can lay claim to as his own is lie. Lie and falsehood are evil. Satan is the author of all misbegotten and opprobrious ideas. When Jesus referred to the beginning, He meant that Satan did not abide in the original state granted him of God. Because he sought a state higher than that granted him of His maker and Lord, he crashed into ignominy. These Jewish religious leaders have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. Because they went about to establish their own righteousness, they have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God(Rom.10:3,4). If they had submitted themselves to the righteousness which is of God through the faith of Abraham, the father of the faithful, they would have recognized and acknowledged the Messiahship of Jesus. If one does not accept the record of God on anything, one makes God a liar. But God is not a liar and cannot be a liar. Therefore, by reverse and circular logic, the one becomes a liar. Satan rejected the testimony of God, and became a liar. Jews who reject the testimony of God concerning His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, are liars too. Though they be physical descendants of Abraham, and are not born out of wedlock, and have all the external paraphernalia of Judaism, their real spiritual father is the Devil, who is the originator, author and father of all lies and falsehood.And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise(Gal.3:29).
Both Jews and Gentiles are the spiritual seed of Abraham through faith in Christ Jesus. Gentiles who come to the God of Israel through the saving knowledge of Jesus The Christ are now part of the spiritual line of Abraham through faith.Through the fall of Israel by transgression, salvation is come to the Gentiles through faith in Jesus Christ. God’s spiritual kingdom, His chosen spiritual line was originally to come primarily from the natural line of Abraham through Jacob, that is, from within the physical line of the nation of Israel, but because of transgression, salvation had come to the Gentiles, in order to provoke Isreal to jealousy(Rom.11:11). Nevertheless, all Israel shall be saved, after the fullness of the Gentiles is come in(Rom.11:25,26). In the new dispensation, God’s chosen people, the citizens of the kingdom of God, include Jews and Gentiles who have received the divinely bestowed gift of faith in Jesus the Christ.
Step 2: God’s Choice Of the Messiah.
Jesus was with the Father from the beginning. His going forth is of old(Mic.5:2). By Him all things were made(Jon.1:3). But in relation to God’s plan of redemption, there was a day in which God the Father chose and adopted the second person of the Godhead, to become His Son. You are my Son, this day I haven begotten thee, and again, I shall be to Him a Father, and He shall be to me a Son. That act of adoption did not in any way diminish His divinity. Therefore when He brought the first begotten into the World, He said, let all the angels of God worship Him(Heb.1:6). He was chosen by God the Father, to die on the cross, in order to redeem all mankind. He was foreordained to die for all mankind.
“Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in this last times for you”(1 Pet.1:18-20).
The primary purpose of Christ’s first advent was to pay the penalty for sin for those whom God had chosen before the foundation of the world(Eph.1:4). The prophet Isaiah wrote:
“surely He has borne our briefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to His own way; and the LORD hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied: by His knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for He shall bear their inequities”(Isa.53:4-6,11).
“Though, He were a Son, yet He learnt obedience by the things which He suffered. And bring made perfect, He became the author of eternal salvation to those who obey Him. Called of God an High Priest after the order of Melchisedec”(Heb.5:8-10).
And His sonship is linked up with His priesthood after the order of Melchisedec. So also Christ glorified not Himself to be made an High Priest; but He that said unto Him, Thou art My Son, today I have begotten thee. As He saith also in another place, Thou art a priest after the order of Melchisedec. If He were not man He would not die. If He were not sinless, His blood would not do. If He were not the “goel,” He would not be the redeemer.
In order to satisfy the requirements of the Holy God, He relinquished the exercise of divinity, and took on the fashion of Man. In that passage of the Scripture called the “kenosis,” emptying, The Christ devested Himself of the glory which He shared with the Father from the beginning. He took on human form, and became subject unto death. Paul wrote in Phil.2:5-12:
“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Where God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in Earth, and things under the Earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ us Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
Step 3. God Chose That The Messiah Would Be The Seed Of The Woman.
No sooner had man fallen through the deception of the woman by the Serpent, than God announced the destruction of the Serpent by the seed of the woman.
“And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head , and thou shall bruise His heel”(Gen.3:15).
If the redemer were to be the seed of the woman, and not of Adam, it therefore follows that He would be born of the woman, but not conceived of Adam. For if He were to be conceived of Adam, He would have the sin nature. But we know that the Messiah was conceived of the Holy Spirit. When angel Gabriel announced to Mary she would conceive, she wondered how that would be seeing she had no husband. But the angel told her that the power of God would overshadow her, therefore that Holy thing that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of the Highest(Luk.1:35).
“Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bring forth a Son, and we shall call His name Emmanuel”(Isa 7:14).
And in fulfilment of this promise, when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons(Gal.4:4,5).
Step 4. God Chose That The Messiah Would come From The Obedient Line Of The Nation Of Israel.
When Abraham dwelt in Ur of the Chaldees, in Mesopotamia, God called him.
“Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land I will shew thee: and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shall be a blessing: and I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee, and in thee shall all the families of the Earth be blessed”(Gen.12:1-3).
Abraham emigrated to Charan with His father, Terah and his nephew Lot. After the death of His father Terah in the land of Charan, Abraham relocated to the land of Canaan. In this passage of Scripture cited above is contained the seed of the gospel. It is protoevangelion. Here the gospel was preached to Abraham, “in thee shall all the families of the Earth be blessed.” God later on cut a covenant with Abraham. It is called the Abrahamic covenant(Gen.15 ). It is an unconditiobal covenant. Abraham was asleep when God passed through the aisle made by the pieces of the sacrificial animals. The promise made to Abraham was passed on to Isaac(Gen.25:5,11), and from Isaac to Jacob(Gen.27:28,29 ). And from Jacob to the twelve patriarchs. Jacob while blessing the twelve patriarchs at his deathbed prophesied to Judah, saying, among other things, that the sceptre shall not depart from Judah, neither the law giver from between his feet until His coming, and unto Him shall the gathering of the people be(Gen.49:10). Later God cut a covenant with David, that there shall not fail thee a son to sit upon his throne for ever, and His seed shall rule over the kingdom of God on Earth, a priest upon the throne(1 Sam.7:12-16; Zach. 6:13).
Step5. God Chose When To Complete The Spiritual Kingdom Of God.
We are grateful to God for the Jews who have come to the saving knowledge of Jesus The Christ, but the majority of the household of Israel do not yet acknowledge Jesus as the promised Messiah of Israel. It is mind boggling that the Jewish rabbis, with all their devotion to, and adoration of the Torah, do not understand that the Messiah Would be cut off before the destruction of the Temple by the Roman general Titus in 70 AD(Dan.9:26). In spite of Israel’s continued rejection of their Messiah, Jesus Christ our Lord, God has chosen at what point in time in His prophetic plan, when He shall save the whole nation of Israel, thereby completing the spiritual kingdom of God. Before that would happen, certain essentials in God’s relationship with Israel must be accomplished, according to the prophet Daniel.
“Seventy sevens are determined upon the thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and the bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and the prophecy, and yo anoint The Most Holy”(Dan.9:24).
After the completion of the 70th seven of Daniel, when the sin of Israel’s rejection of the Messiah would have been fully atoned for, God will bring in everlasting righteousness, leading to the salvation of the entire nation of Israel who have survived the 70th week, and did not take the mark of the beast. Whilst the prophet Daniel tells us more or less generally that everlasting righteousness shall be brought in to Israel at the completion of the 70th seven, the prophet Hosea was more specific . He tells us to the very day, when Israel shall be saved after the completion of the 70th seven.
“Come, and let us return until the Lord: for He hath torn, and He will heal us; He hath smitten, and He will bind us up. And after two days will He revive us: in the third day He will raise us up, and we shall live in His sight”(Hos.6:1,2).
Three days after the end of the 70th week of Daniel, that is, three days into the 30-day Reclamation Period Of The Kingdom, all Israel shall be saved. For it is written, there shall come forth a deliverer from Zion, and He shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob(Rom.11:26). It is only after this that The Most Holy will be anointed. Jesus, The Christ will then reclaim physical posession of the Earth, and become king over the earthly domain of God’s universal kingdom.
John the revelator tells us, that shortly prior to the blowing of the seventh trumpet, the mystery of God shall be finished.
“But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when He shall begin to sound, the mystery of God shall be finished, as He hath declared to His servants the prophets”(Rev.10:7).
When the mystery of God is finished, the spiritual kingdom of God is complete, then Christ shall regain possession of the rule of God over the Earth at the blowing of the seventh trumpet.
“And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ever and ever”(Rev.11:15).
When the mystery of God is complete(Rev.10:7, cf. Rom.11:25,26), the whole nation of Israel shall be saved to complete the spiritual kingdom of God, then Dan.9:24 will be fulfilled. At the completion of the 70th, Israel would have atoned for her sins, and the nation saved. Then and only then will the kingdom revert back to God.
Apostle Paul made it clear that what happened to Israel, was a partial spiritual hardening and blindness. When the fullness of the Gentiles is come in, all Israel shall be saved.
“For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentilles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, there shall come out of Sion the deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob”(Rom.11:25,26).
The salvation of Israel completes the mystery of God, and the spiritual kingdom of God. Then the kingdoms of this world would become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ.
Step 6. God Chose When To Destroy Satan’s Kingdom.
Jesus is coming again, not as a suffering Messiah, but as a conquering King over all the Earth(Isa.65:17-25; Ezek.34:23,24). But before this happens, the entire remnant of the nation of Israel must accept Christ as the Messiah of Israel.
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered your children together, even as a hen gatheteth her chickens under her wings, and you would not! Behold your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord”(Matt.23:37-39; cf. Rom.11:25-27; Jer.31:31-33; Zech.12:10; Ezek.39:27-29).
Only when Israel has accepted Jesus as their true Messiah Would God take back control of the Earth(Rom.11:17). During the Day of His Wrath, God Almighty will reclaim His rule of the Earth, destroy the forces of the kingdom of Satan, and retake physical possession of the Earth at Armageddon(Rev.19:11-21). By then the wrath of God would have been finished(Rev.15:1). The last of God’s wrath is the conclusion of the Day Of The Lord. During that period of time, God will unleash His unparalleled wrath on the ungodly and wicked living earth-dwellers, worshippers and adorers of the Dragon-Beast. God will utterly destroy Satan’s earthly kingdom, and all its beast-marked citizens, in preparation for the kingdom of Christ on Earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
“The Great day of the LORD is near, it is near , and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers. I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung. Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD’s wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of His jealousy: for He shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land”(Zeph.1:14-18).
In that day God will make a speedy riddance of all earth-dwellers who are beast-marked. The war between satan and God is prophesied in both the OT(Dan.9:24), and the NT(Rev. 10:7;11:15). When the salvation of Israel is complete, the rulership of the Earth will revert back to God. Satan is not really happy about this, and is doing everything in his power to subvert it. But he cannot prevail. Over the ages, Satan has attempted to wipe out the entire nation of Israel by using various gentile nations referred to as Beast empires, and their corrupt antisemitic rulers, during the times of the Gentiles. At the fullness of the Gentiles, God shall swoop down from the heavens, destroy these nations and set up His own Kingdom which shall reign for ever.
Step 7. God Chose When To Crown Christ King.
The precise time when Christ shall be crowned King over the Earth by God The Father has already been chosen. Christ shall have already reclaimed God’s rule over the Earth at the blowing of the seventh trumpet(Rev. 11:15,17), shortly after the completion of the spiritual Kingdom of God, when the mystery of God is finished. After the battle of Armaggedon, Christ reclaims physical possession of the Earth for the Almighty God. Then the Lord will be king over all the Earth; in that day, The Lord will be the only one, and His name the only one(Zech. 14:9).
“I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame. And I saw in the night visions, and behold, one like unto the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient Of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. And there was given him Dominion, and glory, and a Kingdom, that all people, nations and languages, should serve Him: His Dominion is an everlasting Dominion, which shall never pass away, and His Kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.”(Dan. 7:11,13,14).
It is for this reason, that Satan is doing all in his power to prevent the nation of Israel from coming to the saving knowledge of the Christ, knowing that that day will bring an end to His Kingdom, and his final defeat in the cosmic conflict.
The Messiah: God’s Prophetic Man.
In order to accomplish the Prophetic plan of God outlined above and the overthrow of Satan, Jesus The Christ, the heavenly archetypal man, must cross the stars and visit the Earth on two separate occasions in the history of man. At His first coming, He would die to redeem man, and irreversibly abolish sin and it’s consequences. At His first advent, He paid the price for the redemption of a people of His own choosing from the kingdom of darkness under the administration of Satan for the kingdom of God(Eph.2. 1:3-2:7).
At His second Advent, He will bring deliverance to all true believers in Christ, salvation to the remnant of the natural line of Abraham, and judgment on the living wicked earth dwellers, adorers and worshippers of the Beat-antiChrist. He will bring an end to Satan’s rule over the Earth by the destruction of all beast-marked citizens of the kingdom of darkness. He will usher in the much anticipated millennium, His one thousand year reign of righteousness over the Earth.
Christ’s First Advent.
As we have point out earlier, The coming of the Messiah shall be in two phases. During each phase, He accomplishes certain specific objectives that are essential to the redemption of mankind, and the reestablishment of the kingdom of God in the earthly Provence of His universal Kingdom. During Christ’s first advent, He accomplished four specific objectives.
1. Remission Of Sin
The wages of Sin is death(Rom.6:23). The sin of Adam brought death upon all mankind. By death we mean primarily eternal separation from God in the Lake of fire and brimstone, and secondarily, physical death, the separation of the immaterial part, the eternal spirit and soul from the material part of man, the physical body. And without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins. Christ as the passover Lamb, the kinsman redeemer, the “goel,” satisfied the death penalty imposed by the sin of Adam on humanity. His death was a substitutionary one. By the shedding of His blood on the cross of calvary, He satisfied the just and righteous demands of the Holy God.
2. Reconciliation
Christ by His death, reconciled us back to God. Sin banished man from the presence of God. Man became an alien from the kingdom of God. Christ as the passover Lamb, permanently overcame the effect of Sin. He freed us from spiritual death, and eternal separation from the presence of God and His Kingdom from which we were alienated by the sin of Adam.
3. Redemption Of The Elect
Although Christ died for all mankind, as the passover Lamb, He came specifically for those who were chosen to be His people. No man can come unto Me except my Father who hath sent me call him, and I will raise up on the last Day(Jon. 6:44). Many are called, but few are chosen(Matt. 20:16; 22:14). By default, through the sin of Adam, every man became a citizen of the kingdom of darkness ruled over by Satan. Christ came to redeem those who were chosen to be the seed of Abraham by faith, that is, the spiritual line of Abraham, back from the kingdom of darkness ruled over by Satan, into the invisible spiritual Kingdom of God, ruled over by God through the agency of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of the redeemed in this age.
“Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin: and so death passed upon all men, for all have sinned. As by one man’s disobedience, many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.”(Rom.13. 5:12,19).
The blood of Jesus has cleansed us from all sin(1 Jon.1:7). Therefore, we are to look and wait for the blessed hope and look for the glorious appearing of the Great God and our Saviour Christ Jesus, when He shall come to glorified in His saints, whom He hath redeemed from all iniquity, and purified for Himself, a glorious people zealous of good works(Titus 2:12-14).
4. Sealed The Faith Of Satan.
By taking Christ to the execution stake, Satan tied the noose on his own neck. Satan assumed when Christ died on the cross, it was all over. He assumed he had obtained victory over God. He thought he had eliminated the redeemer of mankind for ever: that man will for ever be his slave, and serve, worship and obey him. He goofed. Christ’s death on the cross spelt Satan’s certain doom. Christ’s resurrection from the dead sealed Satan’s fate, and doomed his Kingdom on Earth for ever.
Satan did indeed bruise the heel of the Seed of the woman(Gen. 3:15). The wound was fatal: Christ died on the cross. But by the death of Christ on the execution stake, Christ crushed the head of Satan, and obtained eternal victory for the saints of the Most High. Jesus is worthy to judge the world, the kingdom of Satan at is His second coming because, He is the Son of God, and God has committed all judgment to Him. The days of ignorance, God winked at, but now He commands all men everywhere to repent; for He has appointed a day, in which He judge all men in righteousness through the Man whom He hath chosen, having furnished proof to all by raising Him from the dead(Acts 17:30,31). For this purpose, He came into the world.
“Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world shall be cast out.”(Jon. 12:27,31).
Christ’s Second Advent.
Christ’s second advent, is the climax of the cosmic drama. During His first advent, He was gentle Jesus, meek and mild. He was the Lamb of God that took away the sin of the world, and will always be. But in relation to His second coming, He will be the Lion Of The Tribe Of Judah, who hath prevailed to open the Scroll and to break the seven seals thereof (Rev. 5:5). He is coming in power and great glory, with His holy angels, in flaming fire taken vengeance on them that know not God, and obey not the gospel of His Son: who shall be punished with everything destruction from the presence of the Lord and the glory of His power(2 These. 1:7-9). The redeemed will be filled with joy and the lost with terror(Luke. 21:25-28; cp Rev. 6:17).
Just like during His first advent, four major objectives will be fulfilled during His second advent. I have added a fifth which is a corollary of the fourth: for before Christ takes physical possession of the Earth, He must of necessity reclaim God’s rule over the Earth which Satan usurped through the deliberate disobedience of Adam.
1. The Rescue Of The Saints: The Rapture.
When He appears in His glory in the heavens, He shall rescue the saints, both Jews and Gentiles who have entered into covenantal relationship with Him through faith in His finished work, His substitutionary and soteriological work on the cross of Calvary. These are the citizens of His invisible spiritual Kingdom living on Earth. He will rescue them from the terrible persecution of the antiChrist during the great Tribulation. His rescue of the saints will initiate the Day-of-the-Lord judgment of the living wicked earth dwellers who remain. The Lord knows how to deliver the godly from temptation(trial, peirazmos), and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished(2 Pet.2:9).
2. The Rescue Of The Remnant Of Israel
At Christ’s second advent, He will rescue the unsaved remnant of Israel that have survived the Day-of-the-Lord’s judgment of the wicked earth dwellers, adorers and worshippers of the Dragon-Beast, thus completing the spiritual Kingdom of God. It is only after the salvation of the surviving remnant of Israel which brings to completion the spiritual Kingdom of God, that the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdom of our Lord, and of His christ; and He shall reign for ever and eve(Rev. 11:15). At the same time that the saints were raptured, the 144,000, were sealed for protection before the wrath of God commenced.
The 144,000, 12,000 from each of the twelve tribes of Israel, who were not defiled with women, were sealed and hidden in the rose red city of Petra, in modern day Jordan, in order to protect them from the initial trumpet judgments. After the end of the 70th seven, after the death and resurrection of the two witnesses, they shall be taken to protective custody in Azel(Zech. 14:5), in oder to shield them from the remaining wrath of God contained in the seven bowls. But the rest of the remnant of Israel other than the 144,000, shall go through the rest of the wrath of God contained in the seven bowls.
“And I will bring the third part(the surviving remnant) through the fire(the Day-of-the-Lord), and refine them as silver is refined, and try them as gold is is tried(in the fire of the Day-of-the-Lord). They will call on My Name, and I will answer them; I will say, “they are My People,” and they will say, “The Lord is my God”(Zach. 13:9).
Those who survive, who definitely are not beast-marked shall be gathered from all parts of the Earth to enter the Millennium at the end of the war of Armaggedon. However, the completion of the spiritual Kingdom of God occurs shortly before the blowing of the seventh trumpet, when the unsaved remnant of Israel who are not beast-marked are brought into convenantal relationship with the God of Israel. It is written: He will return to the Earth for the salvation of thy people, for the salvation of thy anointed(Hab.3:13). And then, they shall look on me whom they have pierced; and mourn for Him as one mourners for his only son(Zech. 12:10).
3. The Destruction Of The Wicked: The Day-of-the-Lord Judgment.
When Christ returns, during the day-of-the-Lord judgment, He will destroy all the living wicked earth dwellers, worshippers and adorers of the antiMessiah who are beast-marked. These are the children of the Wicked One, the citizens of the kingdom of darkness. This judgment is comparable to the destruction of the wicked inhabitants of the Earth in the days of Noah, during the deluge, when only Noah and his family were rescued in the ark. It is comparable also to the destruction of the inhabitants of Sodom, and Gomorrah by fire in the days of Lot, when only Lot and his family escaped(Matt:24:37-39; Luk.17:26-30; 2Pet.2:4-9).
As foretold by the prophet Zephaniah, in the Day of the Lord’s wrath, all the earth shall be devoured in the fire of His jealousy: for He will make a full end, indeed a terrifying one, of all the inhabitants of the Earth(Zeph.1:18). According to Apostle Peter, the present heavens and earth are reserved unto fire, by the word of God, waiting for the judgment of the Great Day( 2 Pet.3:7). And according to the prophet Isaiah, God will in that Day, punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity(Isa.13:11a).
4. Reclamation Of God’s Rule Over The Earth
At Christ second advent, He will reclaim God’s rule over the earthly realm of God’s universal kingdom usurped by Satan following the fall of Adam through ingestion of the forbidden fruit in the garden of Eden.
“And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, “the kingdoms of this age are become the kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ: and He shall reign for ever and ever”(Rev. 11:15).5.
Christ’s Repossession Of The Earth, And The Coronation Of The Messiah.
At Christ’s second coming, He will be given physical possession of the Earth by the Almighty God, the Father, after Christ had defeated the armies of the Antichrist and all the kings of the Earth at the battle of Armaggedon.
“And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse; and He that sat on him was called faithful and true, and in righteousness He doth judge and make war…. And I saw the beast, and the kings of the Earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him that sat on the horse, and against His army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant were slain with the sword Him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of His mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.”
The Antichrist and his armies are defeated, and the armies of the other kings and kingdoms of the Earth are defeated at Armaggedon, the Lord will be king over all the Earth. In that day, the Messiah shall be crowned king. He shall be the priest upon the throne(Zech.6:13). In that day, the Lord will be the only one, and His name, the only one. Then shall be brought to pass, the saying that is written:
“the gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from under the Earth, and from under these heavens(Jere.10:11).
Satanic Counterstrategy
God is the creator; Satan is a creature. God is omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent, but Satan is limited in knowledge, power and presence. God knows the end from the beginning. Satan’s plan was known to God from the beginning. There is no succession of events in God’s omniscient consciousness. Satan blinded and carried away by his unbounded pride and arrogance, has mapped out his own strategy by means of which he hoped to defeat God. Satan’s strategy is not an original one, but rather desperate attempt to counteract God’s original plan. The interesting thing is that God’s strategy and Satanic counterstrategy are played out within the bounds and limits of God’s sovereignty, with a preordained outcome unequivocally revealed in God’s Word.
The failure of three of these Satanic counterstrategies have already been revealed in history. It is ironical that Satan could imagine that he could defeat his creator with the limited knowledge and power granted him of God. Of course, his original thought was that he could, and that his final strategy would become a reality, though his failure had been predicted in God’s word. Today Satan knows he can never win. All he is up to now is to drag as many men as he could into Hell with him. This awareness of failure will be more acute once he is cast down to the Earth in the middle of the 70th seven of Daniel. He will come down with great wrath knowing that he hath but a short time.
“Woe to the inhabitants of the Earth and of the sea! for the Devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time”(Rev. 12:12).
Satan’s scheme is very simple. It consists of two words, disqualify and destroy. This simple scheme clearly reveals his nature and character as a thief, a murderer and a destroyer. Whatever Satan does, whether outwardly good or evil, the end result is to steal, to kill and to destroy. The thief cometh not, but to steal, and to kill, and to destroy, in contrast to Jesus, the Messiah, who came that we may have life, and have more abundantly(Jon. 10:10).
1 Disqualify And Disqualify The Whole Human Race.
Immediately man fell, God instituted a plan to redeem man. The first promise of redemption is in Gen.3:15. I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed: and it shall bruise thy head, and thou shall bruise his heel. That meant that the seed of the woman would redeem man. This verse of Scripture is protoevangelion, because within it is contained the seed of the gospel.
a) The Hybridization Of The Entire Human Race
In order to counter God’s plan to redeem man, Satan despatched some of his fallen evil angels, to cohabit with human females, the daughters of men. This unholy union resulted in the breeding of a species of spirit beings, the “nephilim” in Hebrew, who were neither human nor angelic. They were very wicked and mean. They were an embodiment of everything that evil and ornery in man and fallen angels(Gen. 6:1-4). They could not be redeemed being hybrid humans. The aim of Satan was to corrupt the whole human race, so that the Messiah would not be born.
The Messiah must of necessity be a pure human. Man can only be redeemed by his kinsman redeemer, the “goel.” If the entire human race were hybridized, there would be no pure human line through which the redeemer could come into World, and there would be no pure human race to redeem. God never promised to redeem angels or humanoids or transhumans.
The Messiah must be the Son Of Man.
He must be born of a pure human female. Nearly every family on Earth was hybridized with exception of Noah and his family. The statement that Noah was pure in his generation is better translated, Noah was pure in his descendants or posterity (Gen. 6:9). In other words, Noah and his family were the only ones who were not hybridized. They were the only ones who were pure humans. Little wonder therefore that God liquidated that whole generation in the deluge. Noah and his family were saved. Pure breed of humans will not vanish from the Earth. God’s plan will not be thwarted(Isa. 8:9-14). The whole army of evil spirits who took part in the execution of Satan’s plan were incarcerated in the shaft of the abyss, in chains, under darkness, waiting for the judgment of the great day( Judge. 1:6).
Some of these mean and wicked beings shall be employed in God’s Day Of The Lord judgement of the wicked earth dwellers, adorers and worshippers of the Beast-antiChrist.
Satan knew that had he succeeded in hybridizing the whole human race, they would all have been disqualified. Had they all been disqualified, God would have wiped them all out in the deluge. God had to arrest that process before it was brought to its logical conclusion. We can see the simple logic of Satan’s plan played here, Disqualify and or destroy.
b) The Introduction and Institutionalization Of Mass Idolatry.
With the survival of Noah and his family, the pure human race has been preserved. But Satan, being the enterprising spirit that he is went to work. After the deluge, God commanded men to disperse all over the globe. But Nimrod, in defiance to God, built cities like Babylon, Nimrud and Uruk. Nimrod was a mighty hunter before the Lord (Gen. 10:9). Nimrod was a great grandson of Noah through Ham and Cush. His prowess mentioned above, has nothing to do with animals and hunting. Nimrod practised witchcraft. With him is associated the origin of false religion, false humanistic government and consumerism and commercialism. Babylon was not just a city, it symbolized a philosophical concept, a global ideal that was applicable to government, religion, education, commerce, indeed all facets of human existence. The evil concept that is Babylon shall be annihilated at the outpouring of the seventh bowl judgment.
The ziggurats of ancient Babel were not residential skyscrapers, but minarets for the practice of astrology and star gazing. Mother-child worship had its origin in Babylon. Semiramis was the wife of Nimrod, and Osiris his son. Osiris was believed to have been born posthumously, whom Semiramis believed to be her husband come back to life. In Mid Eastern mythology, Osiris actually married the mother which was an abomination.
Following the confusion of tongues at Babel, the various peoples of the Earth, scattered to the four corners of the globe, bearing the vestiges of their religion of Mother-Child worship originated by Nimrod and his evil wife Semiramis. There are no peoples on Earth to whom Mother-Child worship is alien.
But again, as in the case of Noah and his family, God spared Abraham from the mass and rampant idolatry of his day. He called and separated him to Himself from the idolatrous city of Ur of the Chaldeans in which he lived. God called Abraham to the land of Canaan. Though the Canaanites were deep in idolatry as were the men of Ur, Abraham would not be under pressure from his kinsman to conform and comply. He could worship the True and Almighty God without undue negative influences from his kinsmen.
Idolatry is a temple-defiling sin. If all men were unrepentant idolaters, God would have to wipe them out. Yet again, the simple logic of desqualify and destroy is self-evident. But God preserved Abraham. Once again Satan’s plan had failed.
2 Disqualify And Destroy The Line Of The Messiah.
When God called Abraham, He cut an unconditional covenant with him. Now the Lord had said unto Abraham,
“Get thee out of thy own country, and from thy own kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: and I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall the families of the Earth be blessed”(Gen. 12:1-3; 15:1-21).
God reenacted this covenant with Isaac, and Jacob. The promises of the blessings of Abraham were passed to the twelve patriarchs through Jacob. God went further to choose the tribe of Judah as the one through whom the king shall come.
“The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a law giver from between his feet, until His coming; and unto Him shall the gathering of the people be”(Gen.49:10).
a) Judah’s Inadvertent Incest
As soon as Satan knew from the word of God that the king will come from the tribe of Judah, he furiously attacked Judah’s family. Er the first son of Judah was very wicked. Wherefore the Lord slew him. He died without posterity though married. Judah asked his second son Onan to go in to his brother’s wife in order to preserve a seed for his brother, so that his name perish not, according to the practice of levirate marriage which was common in the Near East prior to the law of Moses. Onan spilled it thereby shirking his responsibility. What Onan did displeased the Lord; wherefore also God slew him for his irresponsibility.
Because Judah was afraid to give his daughter-in-law Tamar to Shelah, his third son, lest he die also, Tamar had to abide in her father’s house as a widow. When she saw that Shelah was grown up, and she was not given to him, she devised a means to trap the father-in-law in incestuous relation with her, which worked. So it was that Tamar conceived through her father-in-law and gave birth to twin sons, Phares and Zarah(Gen. 38).
But a bastard shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord unto the tenth generation(Deut.23:2). So it was that the error of Judah delayed the granting of a king to Israel for ten generations. At the ninth generation, just prior to the tenth generation, Israel became agitated, and rejected the rulership of God over it, and demanded a king, in order that they might be like the other nations(1 Sam. 8:5). Although their demand for a king like the other nations displeased the Lord, He went ahead and gave them a king according to their own heart. If a man approaches God, and makes a demand of God according to the idol that is in his heart, God will answer him according to the idol that is in his heart(Ezek.14:1-5). Saul’s kingship ended in tragedy(1 Sam.31:1-10; cp, 2Sam.21:1-14).
At the completion of the tenth generation, God found David, the eighth and youngest son of Jesse, a man after his own heart, and anointed king over Israel to feed His sheep(1 Sam.16:1-13). Although David was a good man, he committed a grievous offence when he went in to Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, wife of Urias( 2 Sam.11). Idolatry led to murder. David later married Bathsheba after the death of her husband Uriah. The relationship was legalized, but the child conceived out of wedlock would die(2 Sam.11:27; 12:14-20). The spirits of sexual immorality and murder had come into the royal family. Amnon raped his half-sister Tamar(2 Sam.13:1-18). Absolom in revenge, killed Ammon(2 Sam.13:19-29).
Absolom later led a conspiracy against his father David which ended in his demise(2 Sam.15-18). Absolom defiled his father’s concubines by going in to them on the roof of the palace in the full face view of all Israel.
God chose Solomon to be king over Israel in the stead of his father David instead of his elder brother Adonijah. Adonijah demanded David’s harem from his younger brother, Solomon the king, and paid with his life for his error(1 Ki.2:13-25). Demanding the harem was as good as demanding the kingship.
Solomon, though blessed of God with a wise heart and understanding mind loved foreign women whom God in the law of Moses forbade the children of Israel to marry, because they would turn the heart of your son’s from me to worship the idols of the nations(Exod.34:16; Deut.7:3). In his old age, they turned his heart to serve the abominations of these nations(1 Ki.11:1-8).
b) Idolatry
Man is a dependent being. No man liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. Whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. Whether we eat or drink, or whatever we do we do it to the glory of our God (1 Cor.10:31 ). When men celebrate, they do so in the name of their gods. Sexual immoralities are idolatrous because they glorify not the God of Israel but the Devil and his hordes of fallen demons(Col.3:5). Men and women who revel in sexual immoralities are idol worshippers, whether or not they know and acknowledge it. They may call others pagans, but they themselves are the worst pagans. Besides, the worship of the gods of the Gentiles which the wives of Solomon brought into Israel involved sexual orgies and sacred prostitution. Besides, some of them were fertility cults.
Therefore the God of Israel was displeased with Solomon. The kingdom would be divided. But for the sake of David and Jerusalem which He had chosen, He did not in Solomon’s day but in the day of his son Rehoboam(1 Ki.11:9-13; 12:1-24).
The Northern kingdom went into idolatry from its cradle through Jeroboam, the king. Successive kings took their cue from him until the days of Arab, who married Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal, King of Sidon, who popularized and institutionalized Baal worship in the northern Kingdom.
The Southern Kingdom of Judah remained relatively free of institutionalized idolatry till the reign of Jehoram, who married Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab(2 Ki.8:16-19). When Jehu conspired against Joram king of Israel, and slew him with Ahaziah, King of Judah, and some members of the royal house of David who were related to Arab by marriage, Athaliah attempted to wipe out the seed of the royal house of David(2 Ki.9; 10:12-14; 11). Satan was behind it, to prevent the birth of the Messiah who would be of the royal seed of David.
“If the Lord had not left us a remnant, we would have been like unto Sodom, and like unto Gomorrah”(Is.1:9; Rom.9:29).
But God miraculously preserved Joash, of the seed royal, son of Ahaziah, through Jehoiada, the priest and his wife Jehosheba, the daughter of Joram, sister of Ahaziah(2 Ki.11).
c) Gentile Nations.
Because of idolatry, sexual immorality, and inability to keep the Shabbat of the Lord, God permitted the beast nations of Satan to persecute Israel. Satan’s aim though was to totally wipe out the nation of Israel, inasmuch as he was unable to completely deceive God’s chosen nation. If he had succeeded in deceiving them completely, God would have wiped them out Himself, or else had permitted Satan to wipe them out, thereby defeating God’s plan to redeem lost humanity and regain His rulership of the Earth, and therefore reclaim physical possession of it.
God promised that through the nation of Israel, all the families of the Earth shall be blessed(Gen.12:3); for salvation is of the jews(Jon. 4:22). Because Israel is the chosen nation, he is the object of Satan’s fury. Inasmuch as God has promised to destroy Satan through the seed of the woman, the disqualification and destruction of the obedient remnant of Israel would thwart the very heart of God’s plan, the provision of the redeemer and King through the nation of Israel. As we have sketched through the OT, history have abundant evidence of Satan’s successes and failures as he attempted to deceive, disqualify and destroy the nation of Israel.
God works through an obedient remnant. To deceive the whole nation of Israel is to disqualify and destroy the chosen line. Israel is still relevant to God’s plan in these last days. Even in this day and age, there is an obedient remnant according to the election of Grace(Rom.11:5). So disqualification and destruction were parallel strategies by which Satan simultaneously attempted to eliminate the chosen line of Christ. Destruction was his better option, but he could not destroy except he had first disqualified them by deception.
These nations that Satan has used to attempt to destroy Israel are the eighth beast empires of Satan(Rev. 13:1, 2; 17:3; Dan.7:3). Seven of them are history. One of them, the eighth and final one is yet to come.
Because Israel is back in her land which God gave them by a covenant of salt, and are in possession of her Holy City, Jerusalem, the eighth and final beast empire can become a reality literally overnight, initiating the events of the 70th seven of Daniel(Dan. 9:27; Rev.17:9-12).
The generation that witnesses the rise of the eighth and final beast empire shall not pass away till these things(the events of the 70th seven of Daniel) be fulfilled(Matt. 24:34).
One string that runs through the fabric of all these beast empires, is their hatred of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and the chosen people of Israel. All these beast empires, at one time or the other, had had leaders who attempted to annihilate the chosen people of Israel. Besides the protection of the Almighty, Israel would have been gone long ago. Except the Lord Of Hosts had left us a seed, we would have been like unto Sodom, and like unto Gomorrah(Is.1:9).
3. Disqualify And Destroy The Messiah
Satan as the highest archangel of God dwelt in Heaven with the Father, The Son, and the Holy Spirit, before his rebellion and expulsion from Heaven’s premises. So, he knew who Jesus was. If demons could recognize Jesus how much more Satan. He clearly understood that the incarnate Son came to redeem men and women of God’s own choosing who shall be the citizens of the kingdom of God.
When The Son incarnated(Phil. 2:6,7), He became the human seed of the obedient woman of Israel(Gen. 3:15). Satan also knows the Scriptures. He knew the first coming of the Messiah was to be a perfect sacrifice to redeem God’s elect from the kingdom of darkness, and that His second advent would be as The Lion Of The Tribe Of Judah, to reclaim from Satan God’s rightful rule over the Earth which Satan usurped from Adam by luring him and Eve into disobedience.
a) Infanticide In Bethlehem
Several attempts were made at Jesus’ life during His first advent(Matt. 12:14; 26:4; Jon. 5:18; 7:1), and Satan was the architect of them all. While Jesus was yet an infant, Satan attempt to slaughter Him through Herod the great. This attempt was abortive as were all others he would make until the time appointed of God, but resulted in the death of all male infants under the age of two in the region of Bethlehem(Matt. 2:1-18).
At the beginning of Christ earthly ministry, Satan attempted to disqualify Him from carrying out His redemptive work, by tempting Him to disregard His Father’s will, and use His powers of divinity for His own human welfare and prestige(Matt.4:1-10; Heb.2:18; 4:15). He was at all points tempted like we are, yet without sin(Heb.4:15).
The main objective of Satan’s strategy was to blemish the perfect person of the Lamb of God, thereby disqualifying Him as being worthy to atone for the sins of mankind, particularly those chosen to become citizens of the kingdom of God. Jesus was never ignorant of Satan’s devices. God does not respond to unanticipated circumstances as men do, but as the omniscient sovereign Lord with foreknowledge of everything, He sits in control of all circumstances. Jesus was led of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the Devil. From God’s perspective, it was a test He had to pass, but from Satan’s perspective, it a test He had to fail. God the Father, directed the Holy Spirit to lead Jesus into the wilderness for the sole purpose of confronting and confounding Satan’s evil strategy.
b) The Temptation In The Wilderness
After fasting for forty days and forty nights, Jesus was naturally very weak and hungry. It was then that Satan came to Him and said: “if thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread”. This was an attempt by Satan to lure Jesus away from dependence and submission to the Father which He agreed to when He became man. As God He could turn stones into bread. Nanotechnology has shown us that the basic matter is the same; it is the arrangements of the molecules that differ. Yes, Jesus, as God, as the Son of God, could turn stones into bread, but He would have been operating in His eternal intrinsic powers of divinity rather than reliance on the Father to take care of Him His own way, to which He agreed when He chose to become man. This is the essence of the “kenosis,” the emptying. He emptied Himself of these powers. He divested Himself of these powers. He laid aside these powers. But He could invoke them at any point in time. Herein lies the discipline, the moderation as it were. He agreed not to use these powers but totally rely on The Father to handle matters His way.
If He had turned stones into bread, He would have become like the first Adam, a subordinate of the Devil for ever, in need of redemption. Had He turned stones into bread, He would have become like the first Adam, to do things his own way, to live life his way, which is humanism. Jesus answered Satan, “man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God”. Defeated and humiliated, Satan was nonplussed.
The aim of the third temptation was the same as the first, although Satan used a different method. Here, what was in view was the sin of presumption. He took Him to the pinnacle of the temple, and said unto Him, “fall down: for it is written He will give His angels charge over thee, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.” Although Satan quoted the scripture correctly, but he misapplied it. The premise was correct, but the inference was wrong. Jesus needed not to test The Father’s love. He knew the Father loved Him, and would do all that was necessary to protect Him. He did not need to act foolishly in order to show Satan that the Father loved and cared for Him. Had he been in danger, and it pleased the Father to send angels to protect Him, that would have been fine. But for Him to foolishly jump off the highest point of the temple, and presume that the Father would dispatch His angels to catch Him in mid air, or to begin to invoke the assistance of angels of His own accord was to test the Father’s love. And that was unacceptable. Had He done that, He would have been acting according to His own will not that of the Father. He answered Satan, “thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God”. Again Satan was outwitted and defeated but he was not ditered.
Secondly, Satan took Jesus to a very high mountain, and showed Him the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them. He said, “all these have been delivered unto me, and I will give them to whomsoever I will. They will be yours if you fall down and worship me”. Here Satan offered Jesus the Kingdom without the Cross. But in actuality, there is no Kingdom without The Cross. What Satan never told Jesus that he, Satan was not Lord of the Earth. He was the god of this age(“eion,” the moving world, not the “cosmos”).
God the Father is the Lord of the Earth. Blessed be Abram of the Most High God, possessor of the heavens and the Earth(Gen.14). Jesus said, “I thank thee O Father, Lord of heaven and Earth(Matt.11:25). Satan never had the title deed of the Earth. Adam never had either. What Adam had was the certificate of occupancy which could be withdrawn at any time. The Title Deed of the Earth is the seven-sealed scroll in the Throne Room of The Father in the Temple of Heaven(Rev. 5:1-5). What Satan usurped from Adam was the c of o which will expire at the end of the sixth Millennium.
Satan is a liar. He never tells the whole truth. Half truths are lies. Had Jesus consented and bowed to him, bypassing the agony of the cross, He would have become a subordinate in the Satanic evil Kingdom just as all men are to this day. Hitler said, “tell a lie, tell a big lie, repeat so often, and people will start believing it.” Satan tells lies, big lies, and he repeats them so very often, for he is not about to change or recant.
Satan’s offer of the kingdom to Christ without the cross was the most grandiose and all-encompassing delusions. It went down to the heart of the cosmic conflict. Satan is the ruler of this age. He offered Jesus the rulership of this age, though he made it look like he offered Him the rulership of the Earth for ever. He offered Jesus the rulership of this age without the agony of the cross, the awful redemptive price, the sole specific purpose for which Christ came into the world. Had Jesus taken the easy way out, to regain the rulership of the Earth, and succumbed to that temptation, He would have disqualified Himself as the redeemer of the elect citizens of the kingdom of God. He would have lost His right to return again as the Lion of the tribe of Judah, to destroy the kingdom of darkness.
We have already pointed out that what Satan offered Jesus was not supreme lordship over the Earth, because he never had it, but as subordinate role under his own sovereign rule. But had He consented, He would not be able to reclaim God’s rule over the Earth at the expiry of the sixth Millennium. The condition for Christ receiving a limited rulership over the Earth, was His acknowledgement and worship of Satan.
Satan is so crafty, and yet so foolish. Satan was so arrogantly self-deceived that he foolishly thought he could beguile his creator, the very Son Of God, the embodiment of wisdom, by what would have amounted to a simple surrender and a total sale out. Even more foolish and insulting is the fact that the only thing Satan had to offer the Most Holy God is a corrupt kingdom of evil and sin, and wicked men and fallen evil angels. How could Jesus who judged and condemned Satan and his hordes of fallen evil angels become their subordinate in a corrupt evil world?
Had Christ submitted to Satan, the kingdoms of this world would have for ever remained the kingdom of darkness, inasmuch as the defeat of Jesus would be the defeat of the Father God, the Jehovah God. Jesus looked beyond the temporal, the things which are seen, to the eternal, the things which are not seen. While we look not at the things which are seen, but the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal: but the things which are not seen are eternal(2 Cor.4:18).
Jesus looked beyond the painful price He had to pay at His first advent, to the eternal glory envisioned by Daniel the prophet, in the day when He would be given dominion, glory and a kingdom, that all people’s and nations and tongues might serve Him. His dominion will be an everlasting dominion which will not pass away, and His kingdom, one which will not be destroyed(Dan. 7:14).
Jesus knew that the very purpose of His incarnation was to die on the cross of Calvary. A prophet must not perish from Jerusalem(Luk.13:33). Had Jesus not died on the Cross Of Calvary as a sinless Lamb, without sport, unblemished, had He not risen from the dead three days later, the redemption of man would not have been consummated, man would have remained in sin, and God’s rule of the would remain in the control of Satan.
c) The Agony In The Garden Of Gethsemane.
When the time of His crucificion drew near, after His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, Jesus said,
“now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I into the world. Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out”(Jon.12:27,31).
In the Garden of Gethsemane, after the last super, Jesus said unto His disciples, sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder.
“Jesus took with Him Peter, and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. Then said He unto them, my soul is exceedingly sorrowful even unto death: tarry here and watch with me. And He went a little further, and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, O My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.”
He prayed this prayer three times.
“Then said He to them, rise, let us be going: behold, he is at hand that doth betray me”(Matt. 26:36-46).
In the Garden of Gethsemane, the decisive victory over the powers of darkness in the cosmic conflict was won. In the agony in the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus bore the weight of the collective Sin of humanity, as much as he did on the cross. On the cross He had no option, but in the Garden He had option. But there He voluntarily chose to submit to His Father’s will even on to death just as Isaac did to the will of His Father Abraham on Mount Mariah. Dr Luke wrote that His sweats were like drops of blood(Luk.22:44). This is called haematidrosis. It had been recorded in medical history. Under intense emotion, the capillaries of the skin supplying the sweat glands break, and blood is mingled with sweat. The weight of the collective sin of humanity was too much to bear. But Jesus submitted to His father’s will. Satan had lost the battle over the souls of men and the rulership of the Earth for ever and ever.
Whatever had happened from that time until we enter the Eternal State, is the outworking of the victory scored in that fateful evening in the Garden of Gethsemane. In fulfilment of Gen.3:15, Satan bruised His heel on the cross of Calvary, but Jesus will crush Satan’s head at Armageddon(Jon. 12:31; 16:11; Rev.20:1-3).
4. Disqualify And Destroy The Citizens Of Christ’s Kingdom.
The Seven Beast Empires Of Satan
The beast Empires of Satan are the empires Satan has used in the cosmic conflict, throughout history in order to annihilate the nation of Israel. There are eight of these Empires, seven of them are history. The eighth is yet to come. Each of the past seven beast Empires attempted unsuccessfully to exterminate the nation of Israel, especially the faithful Jews who were obedient to the God of Israel while still resident in the land of Israel.
Egypt persecuted Israel in exile in the land of Egypt. While in Egypt, Pharaoh, King of Egypt ordered the extermination of all Jewish infants by the Hebrew midwives at the point of their delivery. Because this order was not observed by the Hebrew midwives, Pharaoh ordered the infanticide of all Jewish male infants by drowning in the Nile River.
It was at that time that Moses was born, an extremely good looking baby boy, who was adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter through a miraculous turn of events. It was this Moses that God used to lead Israel out of bandage in Egypt, eighty years later and forged them into a nation in the wilderness through a period of forty years.
The Assyrians, a people known for their cruel treatment of war captives, and conquered peoples, under Shalnaneser V, led the Northern Kingdom of Israel into captivity in 722 BC, during the reign of Hoshea, and repopulated the cities of Northern Israel with foreign captives from Cutah and Zepharvaim. These foreigners intermarried with the poor Jewish peasants left in the land, from which originated the mongrel Jews called the Samaritans, a small number of whom remain to this day in the State of Israel.
In 701 BC, the Assyrian king, Senacherib, besieged the city of Jerusalem, in the days of Hezekiah. He only withdrew after the angel of the Lord slew 185,000 Assyrian soldiers overnight. Twenty years later, in 681 BC, he was assassinated by his sons, Adramelek and Sherazer, who escaped to the land of Armenian, and Esarhadon his son reigned in his stead.
In 586 BC, Nechadnezzar, King of Babylon, carried away Israel into exile in Babylon, and destroyed the Jewish Temple on Mount Moriah built by King Solomon. The Jews lived in exile in Babylon for seventy years according to the words of Jeremiah the prophet(Jersey.25:11,12; 29:10). They were freed from Babylonian captivity by Cyrus, the Persian, in his first year as the Emperor of the Medopersian Empire in 538 BC.
In the days of Xerxes, King of Persia, the Ahashuerus of the book of Esther, Haman, the son of Hammendatha, the Agagite, attempted to wipe out the Jews in the entire Medopersian Empire, that stretched from Africa to India. That plot was foiled by Esther and her uncle Mordechai through the invisible hand of Jehovah God. That attempt gave us the book of Esther and the Jewish feast of Purim.
Between 175 and 164 BC, the Greek Syrian king, Anteochus IV Epiphanes attempted to wipe the faithful remnant of observant Jews who resisted the imposition of the worship of his pagan god, the Olympian Zeus, whose Statue was the burst of Antiochus himself. The Jewish priest Mattatthias and his five Sons, rose up against and killed the officials of the king who came to the village of Modein to enforce the apostasy. By 164 BC, the Maccabeans had liberated the temple from the Greeks which Antiochus had previously defiled by offering a pig, an unclean animal, at the Jewish altar of Holocaust, and erecting the image of his pagan god in the Holy of Holies of the Jewish Temple on Mount Moriah. The rededication of the temple after cleansing, gave rise to the Jewish feast of Channukah, or the Feast of Lights or feast of dedication.
Under Roman rule, as soon as Jesus was born, Satan attempted to eliminate Him through Herod the Great(Matt.2; Rev. 12:1-5). Emperor Claudius expelled all Jews from Rome. Nero declared Christianity an illicit religion(“religio illicito”) in 64 AD. Nero ordered Vespashian to destroy the Jewish Temple on Mount Moriah, built by the returning exiles from Babylon, and refurbished by Herod the Great. When Vespashian was recalled to Rome to assume the position of the Emperor, his son, general Titus carried out the orders.
He destroyed the Temple in 70 AD. Over one million Jews were murdered, and the rest were taken captive to Rome, and sold into slavery. Thus began the Diaspora, the dispersion of Jews, God’s chosen people around the globe.
During the Bar Kochba rebellion(132-135 AD), in the days of Emperor Hadrian, led by ben Kosiva, whom rabbi Akiva recognized as the Messiah, and gave him the title of the son of the star of David, the Jews were defeated. Jerusalem was ploughed with yokes of oxen, rebuilt and renamed Aelia Capitolina. Jews were barred from the city under the pain of death.
The worst persecutor of Jews so far had been the Third Reich, the seventh beast empire of Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler. This empire which persecuted Israel in exile, exterminated six million Jews, in its short period of existence(1933-1945), including two million Jewish children whose lives were snuffed out in the embryo. Jews were asphyxiated in box cars and gas chambers, and burnt to ashes in ovens and crematoria scattered all over East and Central Europe.
Unfortunately, the worst persecution of Jews and Christians is yet future. It shall be during the reign of the Antichrist, the Emperor of the eighth and Final beast empire. Precisely in the middle of the 70th seven, Satan and his hordes of fallen evil angels shall be cast down to the Earth from their above in the Dark Void and Starry heavens.
“Woe unto the inhabitants of the Earth, for the Devil is come down unto you with a great wrath, knowing that he hath but a short time”(Rev.12:12).
He will go to make war with the remnant of the seed of the woman, Israel, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ, whose son he had previously failed to devour(Rev. 12:1-5; 17).
When he is cast to the Earth, he possesses the antiChrist who declares himself God, and demands worship of all living earth dwellers. Satan’s aim is to defeat Jesus by disqualifying and destroying all potential citizens of his millennial Kingdom. Anyone who is beast-marked will be liquidated by Christ at Armaggedon. Anyone who is not beast marked, the antiChrist would attempt to ferret out and destroy. If he succeeds in destroying all who do not take the mark of the beast, and Christ destroys all those who are beast-marked, when He takes over physical possession of the Earth at Armaggedon, there would be no one left in this physical and mortal body of ours to repopulated the Earth in the Millennium. In other words, there will be no one left for Christ to reign over in the Millennium. By this means, he hopes to foil God’s plan to retake control of the Earth in the seventh Millennium. But this will not be allowed to happen: for God will cut short the The Great Tribulation so that all flesh will not be destroyed. If those days were not cut short, no flesh shall be saved(Matt. 24:22).
If it had not been for the restraining ministry of the archangel Michael(Dan. 10:21; 12:1; 2Thess.2:7), Israel would have been wiped off the Earth, and the professing church would have so compromised the truth of the Word of God for the Lie of Satan, to the point of being spiritually dead like the church of Sardis, which whilst professing to be alive is spiritually dead. Except the Lord of Host had left us a remnant, we would have been like Sodom, and like Gomorrah(Is.1:9).
The church of Sardis had a reputation for being dead while professing to be alive(Rev. 3:11). It is possible to have all the paraphernalia of religion without the life of Christ: having a form of godliness, but without the power thereof( 2Tim.3:5). In order to purify the church and the observant remnant of Israel, the restraining ministry of Archangel Michael shall be withdrawn after he has cast down Satan to the Earth from his abide in the Dark Void(Dan.12:1). Then there shall be great tribulation, such as have never been before right up to that time.
The Tribulation the Great: The Great Acid Test.
From the divine perspective, the conflict between God and Satan is not a contest. The outcome has been determined in eternity past long before the conflict began. From eternity past, God and His Christ have been the foreordained victors. But the issue at the heart of the conflict had alway been the same. Who would rule over the earthly domain of God’s universal Kingdom? Would it be the Christ, God’s human representative over the earthly domain of His Universal Kingdom, who would reign over the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth, or would it Satan, the usurper, who would reign over the kingdom of darkness in the earthly domain of God’s Universal Kingdom?
Throughout history, the battled rages on, but the final scenario of the cosmic conflict will played out at the end of times, or better still, End of the Ages, in the Day Of The Lord. The final confrontation of the cosmic conflict, The Day Of The Lord, is vividly detailed in the Scroll Of Revelation. Christ The Lamb of God who up this time since His ascension and session at the Right Hand Of The Majesty in the Heavens is seated, sits up, receives the seven sealed Scroll from the Father, breaks the seven seals, for He alone is worthy: to take the scroll, and to break the seals thereof; for thou wast slain and hath redeemed them to God with thy blood out of every tribe, tongue, people and nation(Rev.5:9). This act perfectly portrays the redemption of one’s own possession when the sealed title deed is broken by the rightful owner, following the fulfillment of all requisite rights and conditions(Jer.32:1-11).
Because of its unique centrality in the cosmic conflict, the final thrust of the conflict would involve primarily, the faithful remnant of Israel, the land of Israel, the Holy City Jerusalem, and the rebuilt third Temple on Mount Mariah, the Temple Mount. Because Satan would seek to abort the completion of the spiritual Kingdom of God, the completion of the mystery of God the salvation of the entire nation of Israel that survives the 70th seven of Daniel- the Jews-the natural line of Abraham through Jacob, would be faced with the choice of either yielding to the antiMessiah as their saviour and King, by accepting the mark of the Beast, or repudiate his authority, by refusal to accept the mark of the beast, and die physically. Because this is the only way Satan can prevent the return of the rulership of the Earth to God Almighty, the focus and target of the wrath of Satan will be primarily Jews who fail to capitulate to the authority of the Beast-antiChrist. These would be primarily, the woman, the faithful remnant from the natural line of Abraham through Jacob, and the rest of her spiritual offspring, who keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus, the believers in The Christ Jesus(Rev. 12:17).
As we have pointed out, the primary focus of Satan and Antichrist will be Jews and Christians. By extension, no man on Earth will be free from the Great Acid test, that all people living on the Earth will undergo during the 70th seven of Daniel, the hour of testing, which is about to try all them that dwell upon the earth(Rev. 3:10). Apostle Peter called it the fiery ordeal which is to try you as though some strange things happened unto you(1 Pet.4:12). The Prophet Daniel called it the time of distress(Dan. 12:1). And the Prophet Jeremiah, the Time Of Jacob’s trouble(Jer.30:7). Every man on Earth will be faced with the choice of whom to serve, the true or the false messiah? Jesus The Christ or The Antichrist? If one chooses Jesus the Christ, one is danger of being killed physically. To enforce this demand, Satan will indwell the antiChrist, the emperor of the Eighth and Final Beast Empire of Satan, give him his seat, and power and authority, to cause as many as will not worship the image of the Beast to be killed(Rev. 13:15).
In the middle of the 70th seven of Daniel, God will dispatch His angel, to warn the entire inhabitants of the Earth of the eternal consequence of their choices. “If any man worship the Beast and his Image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the lamb: and the smoke of their torment ascended up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day and nor night, who worship the Beast and his Image, and whosoever receiveth the the mark of his name”(Rev. 14:9-11).
The second half of the 70th seven of Daniel shall be a horrible time of testing. The Prophet Zechariah tells us that only one-third of Jews who enter the 70th seven of Daniel will survive(Zechariah.13:8,9). The church that enter into the 70th seven of Daniel shall be largely a compromising church as exemplified by the church of Thyatira. The church of Sardis is a dead church, though with a reputation for being alive. Of the seven churches in Asia, which are representative of all churches in the end times, only one, the church of Philadelphia received unqualified commendations. The essence of this time of testing therefore, is to purge, purify and refine the church and the remnant of Israel as silver is refined, in order that they might abide the presence of the Shekinah, the everlasting fire which no man in his natural state can approach(1 Tim.6:16). And before the church can be considered worthy to enter into the presence of God(2 Thess.1:11), and become the bride of Christ.
“For the time is come that judgment must begin in the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall be the end of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?(1 Pet.4:17,18).
This time of testing is the Final Harvest, by the angelic reapers. During this time, the wheat and the tares which are growing together shall be separated(Matt. 13:30). During this period, believers will be hated of all nations on account of My Name, and many will fall away from the faith, because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold(Matt. 24:9,10,12). Many- within the professing church- will shrink away from Him at His coming(1 Jon.2:28). But the overcomers will endure to the end, and will be saved, because the proof of their faith being more precious than perishable gold, even though tested by fire, shall be found to result in praise and glory and honour at the revelation of Jesus Christ(1 Pet.1:7).
The rest of the world will gladly accept the mark of the Beast, since they are by nature, the children of wrath even as others(Eph.2:3). They are of their father, the Devil, and the desires of their father they will do(Jon. 8:44). So, they will joyfully take the mark of the Beast, and worship, adore and serve the Dragon-Beast.The Battle Of Armaggedon.
The sin of rebellion which began in the Garden Of Eden, will have its final hurrah on the temple mount in Jerusalem when the Antichrist shall erect a statue of himself in the rebuilt Jewish third Temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem, demanding worship of all mortals. Three and one-half years later, the battle over the rulership of the Earth shall be decisively concluded at the Battle of Armageddon in the valley of Esdraelon in Northern Israel.
The war of Armaggedon shall begin in the general area of Jerusalem in the valley of Jehoshaphat. It shall move over to Megiddo in the valley of Jezreal where the Antichrist and the false Prophet shall be taken captive and cast alive into the Lake of fire and brimstone, and Satan incarcerated for one thousand years in the shaft of the abyss throughout the millennial reign of Christ.
Summary Of The Cosmic Conflict.
In eternity past, prior to the sin of Adam and the subsequent fall of man, God chose those He would redeem from the consequences of Sin. He chose that His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord would be both redeemer and King, and the Eternal Victor in the cosmic conflict. He chose the natural line of Abraham through Jacob as the lineage through which the Messiah would come.
The outcome of the cosmic conflict has never been in doubt: it was determined in eternity past. Christ was the foreordained Victor in eternity past.
During Christ’s First Advent, He reversed the consequences of the sin of Adam for those chosen in eternity past who would express faith in His finished and soteriological work on the Cross Of Calvary. At His Second Advent, He will rescue His Elect, reclaim the natural line of Abram, after the fulness of the Gentiles is come in, thus completing the spiritual Kingdom of God(Rom.13. 11:25). He will then vanquish the kingdom of darkness. Thus, ending Satan’s rule over the earthly realm of the Universal Kingdom of God which he usurped when he beguiled Eve.
He will Institute His one thousand year reign during which period Satan is incarcerated in the shaft of the abyss, and the antiMessiah and the False Prophet in the Lake of Fire and Brimstone. In that Day, that is, during His millennial reign, the Lord will be king over all the Earth; in that day, the Lord will be the only one, and His Name the only one(Zech. 14:9). The cosmic conflict will be brought to its logical conclusion when Satan is finally cast into the Lake Of Fire And Brimstone, following the final revolt at the end of the Millennium(Rev. 20:10).
A Simplified Overview Of The Scriptures.
The first eleven chapters of Genesis are applicable to all mankind. They give us an understanding of God as the creator of the entire universe, Satan as the deceiver of all mankind, who fell from a lofty position of ruler of the earthly reign of God’s Universal Kingdom to the miserable and pitiable position of sinners in need of salvation.
From Gen. 12:1 to the end of the OT, the history of God’s dealing with Israel, and His instructions to them with regards to the coming of the Messiah is revealed. In addition, Satan’s attempt to compromise, disqualify and destroy Israel is also revealed.
The Gospels show us how Israel, the line of Abraham through Jacob, chosen by God to birth and nurture the Messiah, rejected the Messiah.
“He came to His own, and His own received Him not”(Jon.1:11).
Following His rejection by His own people, He set up the mystery form of His kjngdom: the mysterion(Matt. 28:19,20), the essence of which was, among other things, to make Israel jealous, in order that, at the completion of the 70th seven, when the fulness of the Gentiles is come in, all Israel shall be saved: for there shall come forth out of Zion, the deliverer, and He shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob(Rom.13. 11:25,26).
The first twelve chapters of the book of Acts constitute a renewed offer of the kingdom to Israel which She rejects once again. The rest of Acts of the Apostles right up to Jude are the the history and the rules of the mysterion– the Church.
The Scroll of Revelation is the second reoffer of the kingdom to Israel, who now accepts, and becomes the faithful woman, and the rest of her offspring who have the testimony of Jesus, the Church, and the fate of the Satanic Kingdom of darkness, it’s rulers and it’s citizenry. The simplifies overview of the Scriptures will give a framework for understanding of the whole of the scriptures as well as the end times.
The Book of Revelation is unique in the cannon of the Scriptures in that it is the only book authored by our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, being a direct communication from God. John the revelator was His amanuensis. Beyond the question of authorship, the book is replete with imageries and symbolisms which make it a bit difficult for the young convert to comprehend. The Book of Revelation is in its entirety prophetic. That it is prophetic means that it deals mainly with future events. Biblical prophecy is of two categories, forthtelling and foretelling. Forthtelling deals with the things which are, whilst foretelling deals with the things which shall be hereafter or better still future events(Rev.4:1). The Book of Revelation contains both categories of prophecy. The things which are past are remote(history), and the present. That the Book of Revelation is entirely prophetic does not mean that it does not contain historical facts. There are a few flashbacks to the past.
Besides those terms and phrases which are peculiar to the Book of Revelation, there are also other terms and phrases which are germane to the study of the Book of Revelation which stem from the subject of eschatology. Therefore, for a proper understanding of the Book of Revelation, one would need to familiarize oneself with the unique and peculiar phraseology and terminology of the Book of Revelation and the division of theology called eschatology. In this introduction to the Book of Revelation, we shall attempt a definition and a broad view of these terms in order to enable the young believer gain a fair and working knowledge of these terms and their usages in the Book of Revelation and in eschatology as it relates to the Book of Revelation. Time cometh when these things shall be what matters. It will be a matter of life and death. We shall be at advantage if we have a handle on these things. That a generation of believers shall enter into the 70th week of Daniel to witness the horrors of the Great Tribulation is certain and inevitable; it is either us, our children, grandchildren or great grandchildren.
Abyss.
The Underworld Of The Dead
The word abyss is the English derivative of the Greek word “abousos.” It is a deep chasm or gulf in the underworld of the dead that separates Hell itself from the OT Paradise(Luk.16:26). It is aptly described as the bottomless pit(Re.20:1). It is a dark and bottomless pit. Imagine a stone in an inflated tube which a child rolls on its axis around a building. The stone will fall for ever as long as the tube is being rolled along. This is how the Earth with the abyss in it rolls on its axis and revolves around the Sun. The stone will be Satan. The fallen angels who did not keep their first estate, but abandoned their own habitation assigned to them of God, and cohabited with human females, giving birth to the Nephilim(hybrid humans, transhumans or humanoids) are imprisoned there under darkness waiting for the judgment of the great day(Gen.6:1-6; 2 Pet.2:4 Jud.6).
It may be that these evil angels are the locusts released from the bottomless pit to afflict the Beast-marked living wicked Earth-dwellers and worshippers and adorers of the Dragon-Beast at the sounding of the fifth trumpet in the Day Of His Wrath(Rev.9:1-12). These evil angels and humanoid spirits were disembodied at the deluge. Hybrid humans cannot be saved. It was therefore necessary to remove their corrupting influences from humanity. Hence their inprisonment in the bottomless pit. They have a king over them called Abaddon in Hebrew or Apollyon in Greek, who is referred to as the angel of the bottomless pit(Rev.9:11). The Beast-antiChrist is said to ascend from the abyss or bottomless pit(Rev.11:7). This supports the fact that the antiChrist is one who had lived before, and ruled over one of the seven Beast Empires, and shall come back to life to rule over the Eighth Beast Empire of Satan. During the Millennium, Satan, the great red Dragon shall be incarcerated in the abyss for 1000 years alongside with his fallen evil angels(Rev.20:1-3).
Angels.
A Guardian Angel
The Book of Revelation is replete with angels and their activities. To enhance our understanding of the Book of Revelation, we need to know a few facts about these entities called angels. Angels are spirit beings created by God. They are also metaphorically referred to as stars(Rev.9:1) and sons of God(Job1:6; 38:7). Although they are sometimes referred to as sons of God, unlike man, they are not made in the image and likeness of God. They are servants of God created to minister for the saints of God who shall be heirs of the kingdom(Heb.1:14). They are ministering spirits. There is a hierarchical order amongst angels. The highest order of angels are called archangels. Lucifer, Michael and Gabriel mentioned in the Scriptures are archangels. Lucifer was probably the highest archangel in charge of praise and worship to God in Heaven prior to his ouster(Isa.14).
In eternity past, prior to the creation of man, he led a revolt against God in Heaven(Is.14:12-23; Ezek.28:1-19). One-third of the angels in heaven sided with him in the revolt(Rev.12:4a) . He and his followers were cast out of the Third Heaven into the Dark Void and the Starry heavens. This is the origin of evil angels called demons or evil spirits, the gods of the nations whom men worship. These evil spirits are locked in unrighteousness; for they can never repent. The obedient angels are locked in righteousness. They can no longer rebel against God. They shall ever be faithful to Him. After resurrection, the saints shall be locked in righteousness eternally. They shall be like the holy angels, incapable of sin(Matt.22:30; Mk.12:25; Luk.20:34,35). From time to time, depending on their missions, angels can be clothed with human flesh and be visible to the naked and unaided human eye.
Beasts.
1. The Four Beasts.
There are a number of beasts mentioned in the Book of Revelation. There are the four beasts(KJV) or four living creatures(other translations). These are created beings. They are the closest to God in His Throne Room in the temple in Heaven. Their loci of activities are in and about the throne. They guard the Throne Of God in the Throne Room in the Temple Of God in Heaven and the glory thereof. They abide in His presence, praising and worshipping God. The identity of these four creatures are debated amongst biblical scholars and saints alike. They are obviously angels. Their appearances are like the lion, the cow, man and the eagle. They have eyes within and without. They have six wings apiece. Their duty is to praise God day in and day out, saying, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come. Some call them cherubim. They supervised the breaking of the first four seals of Rev.6., signifying and signaling that even though the first four seals represent the Wrath Of Satan, God is in sovereign control.
(a) The First Beast: The Sea-Beast
The First Beast is described in Rev.13. He is also referred to as the Sea-Beast. He has seven heads and ten horns like his master, the Dragon. He is a subaltern of the Devil and his representative on Earth. Satan is an invisible being without a physical body with which to relate to the external physical environment. Therefore his rulership over the earthly realm is by proxy. In other words, he operates through intermediaries or mediators. The First Beast has ten crowns on his ten horns. On his head is written the name of blasphemy. His seven heads are the seven previous beast empires. His ten horns are the ten kings of the ten nation confederation, the Eighth And Final Beast Empire, the Fourth Reich. He is said to come out of the sea(of humanity), he is also said to ascend from the abyss. Putting the two together, we understand that though he is clothed with a human body, he is an evil spirit whose origin is from the bottomless pit.
Human spirits are not sent to the bottomless pit. He has the military prowess of Alexander the Great(he was like a leopard, the symbol of the Greek empire), the administrative ability of the best of Medopersian king(his feet was like a bear), and the iron will of Nero who persecuted the Jews and all non-Romans(his mouth as the mouth of a lion). He is possessed of and anointed by Satan: “the Dragon gave him his power, seat, and great authority.”(Rev.13:2b). He will make war with the saints and overcome them. He is the visible eschatological antagonist. The living wicked Earth-dwellers will worship him and the Dragon who empowered him(Rev.13:1-8). He is the Dragon’s immediate subaltern. Defeated by Christ and His armies at Armageddon, he shall be taken captive and cast alive into the Lake that burneth with fire and brimstone for eternity in conjunction with the Second Beast(Rev.19:20).
(b) The Second Beast: The False Prophet
The False Prophet
The Second Beast came out of the Earth. He is also referred to as the Land-Beast. He has two horns like a lamb, and spake like a dragon(Rev.13:11). Jesus Christ our Lord is the true Lamb of God who took away the sin of the world. The Second Beast is a false lamb who will found a false one world religion characterized by the worship of the First Beast and the Dragon who empowered him. Inclusiveness and syncretistic worship are at the core of religious ecumenism. He is called the false prophet. He will be a false religionist who promotes idolatry, the worship of man as God, in the form of humanism(2 Thess.4:11). He is also called the enforcer because he will cause those who dwell on the Earth to take the mark of the beast by means of outstanding and supposedly genuine miracles which will be very difficult to refute such as making fire come down from heaven in the sight of men, and to cause the image of the First Beast to speak.
He will be far superior to the prophets of Baal who could not command fire from heaven to consume their sacrifice to Baal(1 Kin.18:26-29), and the magicians of Pharaoh who conceded that the miracles performed by Moses were by the finger of God(Exod.8:18,19). He shall be taken captive at Armageddon and cast alive into the Lake of Fire and brimstone for eternity alongside the First Beast(Rev.19:20).
(c) The Scarlet-colored Beast.
Scarlet is the robe and symbol of royalty. The scarlet-colored Beast is false human government instituted by Nimrod. It is fake human nobility. It is the front by which Satan administers his rule over the Earth. It has seven heads and ten horns. There is a little difference in nuance between it and the First Beast.
“So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.”(Rev.17:3).
As we have pointed out, the seven heads are the seven Beast Empires which Satan used to persecute the children of Israel throughout history. The ten horns are the ten nations and kings of the Eighth And Final Beast Empire of Satan. False human government by which Satan administers his rule over the Earth is epitomized in the antiChrist, the First Beast which also has seven heads and ten horns like his master, the Great Red Dragon. The woman who rides the Beast also sits on seven mountains. It therefore follows that the seven mountains are synonymous with the Scarlet-coloured Beast on which also the woman sitteth. When The Stone cut out without hands from the mountain destroys the Statue Of Nebuchadnezzar by striking it at its feet of ten toes made partly of iron and partly of clay, the whole satanic edifice came crashing down(Dan.2:34,35,44,45). It therefore follows that the life and spirit of the whole satanic setup is in the Eighth Beast Empire and its Emperor, the antiChrist. The Great Red Dragon, the First Beast, and the Scarlet-colored Beast, have the same characteristics, seven heads and ten horns.
Bowls
A Bowl
The Greek word translated bowl(other translations) or vial(KJV) is “phiale” from which the English word vial is derived. It is a shallow bowl like saucer, the content of which can be easily emptied, unlike the vial used in medicine today which is a narrow-throated vessel, the content of which is difficult to empty because the narrow throat constitutes an impediment to the flow of the liquid content. All seven bowls are contained within the seventh trumpet. The imagery of the outpouring of the bowls is one of the discarding and decanting of dirty water used in doing ablution with a quick swish. The seventh trumpet has no judgment of its own but opens into the seven bowls. The seven bowls constitute the final wrath of God(Rev.16). They were administered by the last seven avenging angels.
The Seven Bowl
All seven bowls are emptied upon the Earth within a short period of 23 days between the sounding of the seventh trumpet on Mount Zion on the 5th day and the end of Armageddon on 30th day of the 30-day Reclamation Period of the kingdom. The seventh bowl contains the judgment of Mystery Babylon, the Mother Of Harlots And abominations Of The Earth, the religion and commerce of the humanistic system of the antiChrist epitomized in a city called Babylon, and the war of Armageddon.
Church
The Church: Ekklesia
The English word Church is a translation of the Greek word “ekklesia” which means called out people. It is the assembly of Jews and Gentiles who believe in Jesus the Messiah. The word of God divides humanity into three, the Jew, the Gentile, and the Church Of God. Give none offense neither to the Jews, nor the Gentiles, nor the Church Of God(1 Cor.10:32). The Church is one of three divisions of humanity. The seven churches mentioned in the Scroll Of Revelation were actual local assemblies of believers in Asia Minor which is in present day Turkey. They were not the only ones in Asia Minor at that time. They were representative of local assemblies at that time and in the 70th week of Daniel.
The Seven Churches Of Asia Minor
Of the seven churches, two were faithful and uncompromising. These were the churches of Philadelphia and Smyrna. Five were unfaithful and compromising in various areas though believing in Jesus. The church of Sardis was a dead church with the reputation of being alive, with the outward paraphernalia of religion. These churches boil down to individual Christians. Few believers are faithful and uncompromising. The majority of believers are in between, unfaithful and compromising. There are few in the body who give the outward impression of being spiritually alive but are in actual fact spiritually dead. The faithful and uncompromising believers shall be granted protection within the sphere of persecution because they heeded Christ’s instructions concerning perseverance, and shall finally be removed from the sphere of persecution. The unfaithful and compromising believers shall go through persecution without divine protection because they failed to heed Christ’s instruction concerning perseverance. The dead believers shall capitulate to the authority of the Beast.
The Dragon.
The Dragon
The great red Dragon has seven heads and ten horns like his minion the First beast(Rev.12:3). He is the supreme personality of evil who opposes God, the saints and the holy angels. The seven heads are the seven Beast Empires of history which have persecuted Israel in exile or took her into exile. The ten horns are the ten kings of the ten nation confederation, the Eighth And Final Beast Empire Of Satan. The Dragon is the Chief eschatological antagonist, the supreme personality of evil, the archenemy of God and His saints. In eternity past, he led a revolt against God, and drew one-third of angels to his side(Rev.12:4a). He was the former archangel Lucifer(Greek: phosphorus, the shining one), in charge of praise and worship in Heaven. He is called Satan. The Hebrew word “shatan” from which the English word Satan is derived means adversary. He is the opposer of God and His children. He lured Adam and Eve into eating the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden(Gen.3:1-24). He is the serpent, so named because of his subtilty, craftiness, greasiness, and crankiness(Gen.3:1, Rev.12:9, 20:3). He usurped the authority given to Adam, God’s human representative in the earthly domain of His universal kingdom. He is the god of this Age, and the prince of the power of the air(2 Cor.4:4; Eph.2:2). His rulership of the Earth shall expire at the end of Adam’s lease, the sixth millennium. He is a spirit being; lacking human body with which to relate to the external physical environment, he rules the world by proxy. He attempted to snuff out the life of Jesus as a child through the agency of Herod the great(Rev.12:4; Matt. 2:16-18).
He shall attempt through his minion the antiChrist to exterminate Jews and true believers, and anyone else who repudiates his authority during the Great Tribulation(Rev.12:17). He shall be cast down to the Earth with his evil angels in the middle of the 70th seven of Daniel(Rev.12:7-9). He shall be bound in the abyss for 1000 years during the millennial reign of Christ(Rev.20:1-3). At the end of the Millennium he shall be temporarily released to lead the final rebellion against God that would end in divine conflagration(Rev.20:7-10). He shall be finally cast into the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone(Rev.20:10).
Candlesticks
The Seven Branched Golden Candelabrum
Candlestick or lampstand, also called menorah(Hebrew) or candelabrum(Greek) is a light source. In the Book of Revelation, it is the light source of the city. It was used of Christ to represent a local church which is the spiritual source of life and light in the city.
“Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”(Matt.5:14-16).
The seven lampstands or candlesticks are symbolically representative of the seven churches in Asia Minor to which the seven letters of Christ were addressed(Rev.1:20). Any local assembly of believers anywhere in the world at any time, more so in the 70th week of Daniel will fall into one of these seven candlesticks. They also represent individual Christians. Any professing Christian will fall into anyone of these seven categories.
Crowns
A Crown
There are two Greek words translated crown in the Book of Revelation, “diadem” and “stephanos.” Diadem is the crown won by kings and rulers. “Stephanos” is the victor’s crown awarded to those who were victorious at the Olympic Games. They were made of gold leaves. The woman in Rev.12 is depicted as wearing a crown studded with 12 stars. The ten horns of the Dragon-Beast were also wearing “diadems.” They were sitting kings. The angel sitting on the white cloud in Rev.14:14, had on his head a golden crown. The rider on a white horse in Rev.19:12 has many crowns on His head. The overcomers wore the victor’s crown. The crown of life is promised to those who are faithful unto death(Rev.2:10). Therefore it is called the martyr’s crown.
End Of The Ages.
The End Of The Ages
Judaism has a dual view of the ages. There is the present age, “olam haze,” and the age to come, “olam haba.” In Greek, the age to come is “eioneis.” The life of the age to come is what is translated as eternal life in the KJV in John 3:16.
“For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but shall have the life of the age to come(zoe eioneis).”
The life of the age to come is here present in those who believe in Jesus, albeit masked by the mortal body. Between these two ages, the exiting of the present age and the ushering in of the age to come is the end of the ages. During this transition period, there is an intensification of activities by God and His angels, Satan and his fallen evil angels, and human beings to bring to an end the cosmic conflict. This period corresponds with the part of the second half of the 70th seven referred to as the Day Of His Wrath, the Day Of Christ or simply the End(Matt.10:22, 24:14). During this period the wrath of God is poured out on the living wicked Earth-dwellers and worshippers and adorers of the Dragon-Beast, in order to avenge the blood of the saints killed during the Great Tribulation and to end the wicked reign of Satan and to usher in the just and perfect reign of Christ. Christ’s Second Coming to rescue the Church occurs at the end of the ages, the Harvest prior to the outpouring of the wrath of God. The Church is exempt from the wrath of God(1 Thess.1:10, 5:9).
Heads
The Ten-Nation Confederation Of The Eighth And Final Beast Empire Of Satan
The Great Red Dragon has seven heads and ten horns, so also the Sea-Beast(Rev.12:3, 13:1).
“And I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet-colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.”(Rev.17:3).
The scarlet-colored Beast is the image of the rule of the Dragon, Satan over the Earth. Remember, here the emphasis is on how the rule of the Devil affects Israel. So, the seven heads are the seven Beast Empires that Satan has used to persecute Israel. These are Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Meno-Persia, Greece, Rome, and The Third Reich of Hitler’s Nazi Germany. There is an Eight Empire figuratively represented by the ten horns, a confederation of ten nations and their kings which shall be ruled by the little horn which is the eleventh horn(Dan.7:8). The little horn that has eyes which signal intelligence is the Beast-antiChrist which has ruled over one of the seven previous Beast Empires, and was killed with a military weapon in battle, descended into the abyss, and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit to rule over the Eighth And Final Beast Empire of Satan(Rev.17:8,11,).
Horns.
Horns
Horns signify power and authority. In the Book of Revelation, the Dragon has seven heads and ten horns. The first beast also has seven heads and ten horns: so also the Scarlet-colored Beast. The ten horns have ten crowns. That the ten horns have crowns indicate that they are sitting kings. That is indeed the case, inasmuch as the ten horns are the ten kings of the ten nation confederation which is the Eighth and Final Beast Empire of Satan. The second beast who spoke as lamb has two horns. While the power and authority of the ten horns were political, the power and authority of the second beast, the enforcer of the First Beast was religious. He hypnotized and mesmerized the living wicked Earth-dwellers to worship and adore the Dragon and the First Beast(The Dragon-Beast; Rev.13:4,12, & 14).
Horse And Rider.
The Four Horses Of The Apocalypse
In the Ancient Near East, horses signified royalty and might, more so military might. In the Ancient Near East, all kings go to battle(2 Sam.11:1). Therefore the first four seals of Rev.6 which are the wrath of Satan are symbolized by horses and their riders. The first white horse and rider signal the emergence of false christs, and the antiChrist who is the ultimate false christ. The second red horse and rider signal war. The third black horse and rider signal famine and extreme dearth, pestilences and earthquakes which are the natural consequences of war. The fourth grey horse and rider signal the Great Tribulation by the antiChrist against christians and observant Jews and any other person who repudiates the authority of the Beast-antiChrist. These horses also represent movements.
In Rev.19:11-16, the rider on a white horse accompanied by the heavenly hosts also mounted on white horses is Christ. The colour of the horse determines the purpose. White signifies righteousness. Christ is the righteous Judge. The armies of heaven are righteous. Christ is faithful and true and righteous. The first horse and rider which signal the emergence of the Beast also depicts a false Christ who has a bow but no arrows which signal deceit and political intrigue, and subtle peace diplomacy.
Kings.
There are a number of rulers mentioned in the Book of Revelation who are kings. The antiChrist is the overall ruler of the Eighth and Final Beast Empire. It is best to see him as the Emperor of the Empire. An empire is a consortium of nations ruled by a king, an emperor. Under him are the ten horns who are the ten kings of the ten nation confederation. Besides, there are the kings of the east, the king of the south and the king of the north. Egypt and her king shall be opposed to the antiChrist. There may be neutral nations like Edom, Moab and Ammon which are in the vicinity of modern Jordan(?)
The nations and their armies shall be destroyed at Armageddon. These nations have kings who are not specifically named. Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords. He shall reign as king over the whole Earth, sitting on the throne of His father David as his greater son and on the throne of God in the Throne Room of the fourth and millennial temple on Mount Zion as His human-divine representative(an Adam), the heavenly archetypal man, the God-Man in the earthly realm of His universal kingdom(Isa.9:6; Zech.6:13; Luk.1:69,70; Matt.2:2).
Lambs.
Jesus is the Lamb of God that was slain to take away the sin of the world(Jon.1:29). In Rev.5, He vacated His seat at the right hand of the Throne Of The Majesty in the Throne Room of the Temple of God in Heaven. He is standing in the midst of the throne as a Lamb that was slain. This signals His death and resurrection. He is the Lion Of The Tribe Of Judah who has prevailed to break the seven seals of the seven-sealed scroll and to open it, after a search was conducted in Heaven, Earth and under the Earth and no man was found who could open the scroll and break the seals, to the consternation of John the revelator who wept sore. He prevailed because He is worthy. He conquered death. He atoned the sins of all mankind.
In Rev.13:11-18, there appeared another lamb with two horns. This is the second beast, the false prophet who mesmerizes and hypnotizes the whole world to worship the First Beast and the Dragon. He has power granted him of the First Beast to perform miracles which appear seemingly genuine, aimed at luring the gullible Earth-dwellers to worship false gods.
Marriage.
There is the marriage of the Lamb which takes place in Heaven, after the Rapture of the Church, after the completion of the spiritual kingdom of God, shortly before the blowing of the seventh trumpet, after Christ reclaims the rule of God Almighty over the Earth at the blowing of the seventh trumpet. It shall be after the Bema Seat judgment at which the saints are bejeweled; for His Bride has made herself ready(Rev.19:7).
The marriage Supper of the Lamb shall take place on Earth in the early part of the millennial reign of Christ. At the marriage Supper of the Lamb, Christ, the newly enthroned king of the Earth, Jesus the Son Of God who also is the Son Of Man shall make a banquet for the kings of the Earth(the saints who reign with Him), a feast of wine on the lees, wine well refined(Is.25:6).
Millennium: The Rulership Of The Kingdom
Millennium is a compound Latin word derived from “mille” and “annum.” It simply means one thousand years. It is used by theologians and biblical scholars alike to denote the one thousand years after the present age during which Christ and the saints shall reign on Earth while Satan and his fallen evil angels are bound in the abyss(Rev.20).God created the heavens and the Earth in six days. He rested the seventh day and hallowed it. Therefore the seventh day is the Shabbat of the Lord.
“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.”(Gen.2:1-2).
God leased the Earth to Adam.
“And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”(Gen.1:28).
Adam was God’s representative in the earthly realm or domain of His Universal Kingdom.
“The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord’s: but the earth hath he given to the children of men.”(Ps.115:16).
Adam was to rule the Earth for six days. Each of those days would be a thousand years.
“But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”(2 Pet.3:8).
On the seventh day which is the seventh millennium, the rulership Of the Earth will revert back to the Most High God who is the owner.
“And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth:”(Gen.14:19).
Adam sold out to the Devil(Gen.3). Satan became the god of this age, the prince of this age and of the power of the air(Jon.14:30, 2 Cor.4:4, Eph.2:2). Satan boasted to Jesus that the kingdoms of this age and the glories of them are his. Jesus did not refute his claim.
“And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.”(Luk.4:5-8, Matt.4:8-10).
How and when did he get them? At the fall of Adam. It was legal transactions and therefore binding. Adam did not have the moral right to do that, but he had the legal right because he was God’s representative in the earthly domain of His Universal Kingdom. God’s lease of the Earth to Adam will expire at the end of the sixth millennium. It therefore follows that Satan’s rule over the Earth will expire at the end of the sixth millennium. Jewish calendar which is lunar begins on day one of creation of man. The 70th week of Daniel is the last seven years of the sixth millennium. The seventh millennium is God’s Shabbat.
During this period, Satan shall be bound in the bottomless pit for one thousand years. Christ and the saints shall reign.
“And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.”(Rev.20:1-6).
Mountains
Mountains
“The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sitteth.”(Rev.17:9).
In the Ancient Near East, mountains were used figuratively to refer to kingdoms, and kingdoms were synonymous with their kings. Therefore, the seven mountains represent seven kingdoms and their seven kings. These kingdoms are the seven previous Beast Empires that have persecuted Israel throughout history. They are Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, and the Third Reich of Nazi Germany(Dan.2,7). At the time of the writing of the Scroll Of Revelation by Apostle John, the apocalyptist, five kingdoms were fallen or had become history, one was, the sixth kingdom which was the Roman Empire, was in existence at that time. The seventh was yet to come and would last a short space(Rev.17:10). Hitler’s Third Reich intended to last a thousand years survived for a very short period of twelve years(1933-45). There are some biblical scholars that teach that the seven mountains represent the seven hills on which Rome was founded, this cannot be historically substantiated because the seven hills were not seven kingdoms ruled by seven heads or kings. Even if they were sovereign kingdoms, they were never world class Empires that negatively impacted Israel. They were never used of Satan to persecute Israel, neither did any one of them took Israel into exile. The seven kingdoms were used of Satan to persecute Israel.
Nations.
Apart from the Eighth and Final Beast Empire of Satan, consisting of a ten-nation confederation, there shall be other nations in existence in the end times. There will be nations of the north, south and east(Dan.11:36-45). Nations in the north of Israel shall form a coalition to be ruled by the king of the North. African nations south of the Sahara shall also form a coalition to be ruled by the king of the South. The antiChrist will be the king of the West. But the nations of the east shall not be able to form a coalition due to religious and ideological differences. Therefore, there shall be the kings of the East.
“And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.”(Rev.16:12 KJV, emphases added).
These are China, India, Pakistan, Japan, etc. There will be Egypt, Edom, Moab and Ammon. In the days of these kings shall the God Of Heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it will stand for ever(Dan.2:44). All these nations and theirs kings and armies shall be summarily vanquished by Christ at Armageddon(Rev.19:19-21). And then the kingdoms of this age will become the kingdom of God and of His Christ on Earth.
“And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.”(Rev.11:15).
New Heaven And New Earth
Apostle John the revelator saw a new Heaven and a new Earth and there was no more sea.
“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.”(Rev.21:1).
During the Day Of The Lord, the present Heavens And Earth shall be cleansed with fire from the defilement of sin, and renovated during the 45-day Restoration Period Of The Kingdom. The resultant Heavens And Earth shall be the New Heavens And The New Earth. There are some biblical scholars who teach that the new Heaven And New Earth occurs after the Millennial reign of Christ. This cannot be true because what prophet Isaiah described after prophesying of the creation of the new Heaven And New Earth is life in the Millennium.
“For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed. And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with them. And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent’s meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord.”(Isaiah 65:17-25).
During the reign of Christ after the present age, men shall reproduce and bear children. There will be infants and toddlers. There will be old men. After the Millennium is the final final resurrection. Every man will be in a resurrection body which is ageless.
“And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord; And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.”(Isaiah 11:1-10).
As also in the Millennium, all wild animals shall be tamed in the New Heaven And The New Earth. In the New Heaven And New Earth as in the Millennium, the Earth shall be repopulated by sinful men, Jews and Gentiles in their sinful mortal bodies subject to sickness, disease and death. They shall have offspring. Those who die at one hundred years of age shall be regarded as babies. If this period follows the Millennium, no man will be in this sinful and mortal body of ours inasmuch as the Millennium ends with the final resurrection and the White Throne Judgment(Rev.20:11-15). After the Millennium everyone, both sinner and saint shall be in eternal immortal resurrection body. The saint shall be in glorified eternal immortal resurrection body which is the resurrection unto life. The sinner shall be in non-glorified eternal immortal resurrection body which is resurrection unto damnation(Jon.5:25-29). So, the new Heaven And The New Earth is the same as the Millennium. After the Millennium is the Eternal State or Eternities Future.
Periods Of The Kingdom.
“And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days. Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days.”(Daniel 12:11-12).
An interim of 75 days is spoken of by Daniel the prophet. The starting point of this interim is the end of the 70th week. The interim is divide into two unequal periods of 30 days and 45 days. The 1,260, the 1,290, and the 1,335 days have the same terminus -a-quo at the midpoint of the 70th week when the abomination that maketh desolate is set up at the rebuilt Third Jewish Temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem.
1. The 30-Day Reclamation Period Of The Kingdom.
The 30-Day Reclamation Period Of The Kingdom
This period begins at the end of the 70th week which is marked by the death of the two witnesses. This period is dubbed the Restoration Period of the kingdom by Robert Van Kampen of blessed memory. Within this period certain key events of the end times occur such as the rescue of the 144,000 and other remnants of Israel hiding in the Edomite Wilderness on the first day, reconciliation of the remnant of Israel with God on the third day, the resurrection of the two witnesses on the fourth day, the reclamation of God’s rule over the Earth by Christ at the blowing of the seventh trumpet on the fifth day, the surviving remnant of Israel sent into protective custody in Azel on the 6th day. This period ends with the defeat of the antiChrist at the battle of Armageddon on the 30th day.
2. The 45-Day Restoration Period Of The Kingdom.
The 45-Day Restoration Period Of The Kingdom
The 45-day extension after the 30-day period is aptly named the Restoration Period Of The Kingdom by Robert Van Kampen. It is indeed a period of restoration of the heavens and the Earth after they have been salted by fire during the Day Of The Lord, and the devastations cuased by the first four seals of Rev.6(Is.65:17; Rev.21:1). During this period, the whole Earth will be renovated, Mount Zion will be renovated and elevated above all other mountains. The Fourth And Millennial Temple shall be erected on top of the elevated Mount Zion, the earthly Millennial Jerusalem will be rebuilt, the Heavenly Jerusalem will descend from Heaven(Ezek.40-43; Rev21:2). It shall be contiguous with the Throne Room Of Christ in the Fourth And Millennial Temple atop Mount Zion through the hollow at its base. It shall be the abode of the resurrrected saints in their glorified eternal immortal resurrection bodies who shall reign with Christ over the Earth in the Millennium(Rev.21:3,24). During this period also, the final ingathering of the Jews who survived the wrath of Satan and the first six trumpet judgments shall be conducted(Jere.31:10-15), and perhaps the Sheep And Goat Judgment Of The Gentile survivors of the Day Of The Lord who were not Beast marked(Matt.25:31-46).
Scrolls
The Greek word translated scroll or roll is “biblos” from which the English word bible and its cognates are derived. It simply means book. In the Ancient Near East, documents were written on parchments made from animal skin or papyrus sown together, then rolled up. For ease of handling, the scroll is attached to wooden rods at both ends, left and right, with the ends sticking out at all four corners, up and down as seen today in the scrolls of the Torah. The scroll may or may not be sealed. If sealed, the seals can only be broken by the owner of the seal or the one to whom it is addressed. If unsealed, the scroll can be read by anyone lettered(Isa.29:11,12). The Book of Revelation itself was originally written on a scroll. There are two scrolls mentioned in the Book of Revelation: the Big Scroll in Rev.5 & 6 and the little scroll in Rev.10. Unsealed Scroll may be rolled up or open.
1. The Big Scroll.
The Big Scroll has seven seals. The seals are on the exterior of the Big Scroll. The seals must be broken before the content of the scroll can be accessed and viewed. The Big Scroll is the Tittle Deed of the Earth which Jesus received from the Father because He is the only one in Heaven, on Earth, and underneath the Earth qualified to break the seals and open the scroll to reveal the content, inasmuch as the Father has committed all judgments to Him(Jon.5:22). The big scroll with seven seals is a certificate of dibenture(O. Roller, 1937; J.Webb Mealy, 1992; Alan E. Kurschner, 2019). The Big Scroll is in storage in the Throne Room Of The Temple Of God in Heaven. The Big Scroll is not the Bible as some interpreters teach. The Big Scroll has always been kept in Heaven inasmuch as the Earth was leased to Adam, not sold. Christ is the only one who has the right to execute divine judgment on Earth; for He is The Son Of Man(an Adam, God’s human representative on Earth), and God the Father has committed all judgment unto the Son. That He is the Son Of God implies deity. That He is the Son Of Man implies He is the God-Man, the heavenly archetypal man, the rightful heir to the throne of God on the earthly domain of His Universal Kingdom. Although God The Father is the possessor of the Heavens and the Earth(Gen.14:19), He has leased the Earth to the sons of men.
“The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord’s: but the earth hath he given to the children of men.”(Psalms 115:19). God made Adam in His own image and likeness, and gave him dominion over the Earth and it’s appurtenances(Gen.1:26-31).
2. The Small Scroll.
A Small Scroll
The little scroll has no seals. It is the big scroll with the seven seals broken and part of the internal content already dispensed with in the first six trumpets. The Small Scroll contains the final wrath of God in the 7th trumpet. The seventh trumpet contains no judgments of its own but opens into the seven bowls. The seven bowl judgments are administered by the last seven avenging angelic reapers. The other contents of the Small Scroll are the events that shall transpire during the 45-Day Restoration Period, the Millennial Reign of Christ, and the White Throne Judgment.
Seals.
Ancient seals
Rolled up scrolls are tied up and then knotted at several points on the roll. These knots may be in a row or arranged haphazardly. On these knots are placed wet clay or soft wax and then impressed with the signet of the owner of the document. The clay or wax is allowed to harden. These knots with seal impressions are called seals or bullae(singular: bulla). Seals or bullae are for authenticity, security and protection, preservation. Tampering with seals attracts prosecution. Some documents may contain as few as 2-3 or as many as 5-7 bullae or seals. The seals can only be broken by the owner of the seal impression or the one to whom the document is addressed. Unsealed scrolls can be read by anyone lettered. Scrolls with broken seals can also be read by anyone lettered without fear of contravention and prosecution.
The content of the scroll can only be accessed if the seals are broken inasmuch as the seals are on the exterior of the scroll. The Big Scroll in Rev.6 has seven seals. The small scroll in Rev.10 is the big scroll with the seven seals broken and part of the internal content dispensed with in the first six trumpet judgments. So, it has no seals. The big scroll with seven seals is the Title Deed of the Earth. Only Christ has the power and authority to break the seals and reveal the content because God the Father has committed all judgment to Him(Jon.5:22). The seals are broken in heaven and certain events unfold here on Earth.
The first seal is the white horse and rider which signal the emergence of false messiahs, and the man of sin, the ultimate false messiah. The second seal is the red horse and rider which signal war. The third seal is the black horse and rider which signal famine, pestilence and earthquakes. The fourth seal is the grey horse and rider which signal the Great Tribulation. The first four seals signify the wrath of Satan which is different from the wrath of God(Rev.12:12; 6:17). The fourth seal is Satan’s great wrath.
The wrath of God is contained in the trumpets and the bowl judgments. The wrath of Satan is directed against the saints of God and the nation of Israel and anyone else who for whatever reason fails to capitulate to the authority of the Beast-antiChrist. The wrath of God is directed against the living wicked Earth-dwellers and worshippers and adorers of the Dragon-Beast.
“Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.”(Eph.5:6).
The first four seals are administered by the four living creatures indicating that God is in sovereign control. The fifth seal is a heavenly scene that depicts the severe persecution of the people of God going on here on Earth under the Fourth Seal which is the Great Tribulation. These saints are arriving in Heaven as disembodied spirits and souls. They have not yet received their glorified eternal immortal resurrection bodies. They are kept under the altar of incense. They demand vengeance from God.
The sixth seal is earthly and celestial disturbances which God uses to interrupt the persecution of the saints at the completion of the number of saints to be martyred by the antiChrist and his minions under the fourth seal, the Great Tribulation. The seventh seal signals the wrath of God. Before the seventh seal is broken, God raptures the saints and seals the 144,000 from the nation of Israel(Rev.7). The seventh seal has no judgment of its own but rather opens into the seven trumpets.
Sevens.
The number seven is the commonest(most recurrent) number in the scroll of Revelation. It occurs more frequently than any other. In Hebrew numerology and Gematria, seven is the divine number. It signals completeness, wholeness and perfection. It indicates that human history on Earth as we know it is coming to a consummate end with divine precision and accuracy of His righteous judgment. There are seven benedictions(Rev.1:3;14:13; 16:15; 19:9; 20:6; 22:7,14), and seven stars and seven candlesticks(Rev.1:20). There are seven spirits of God(Rev.1:4). This does not mean there seven individual spirits. There are seven attributes of the one Spirit of God, The Holy Spirit. These seven attributes of the Holy Spirit are in perfect and complete manifestation in Jesus. That is why the Scriptures say that He, Jesus has the seven spirits of God.
There are some, like Dr. Eli Lizorkin-Eysenberg, that teach they are seven angels that administer the power of God which may well be true. Is it proper to say Jesus has the seven angels of God? The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches(Rev.1:20). They go beyond angels appointed by Jesus over these churches to the responsible human elements over these churches. Men and angels could be the messengers of God. In extreme cases, where men have failed woefully, animals are used as God’s messengers also(Num.22:22-31; 1 Kin.17:1-6).
The seven candlesticks are the seven churches(Rev.1:20). There are seven churches and seven letters to the seven churches(Rev.2&3). There are seven seals and seven trumpets and seven bowls(Rev.5:1, 8:2,6, 15:7). The seventh seal opens into the seven trumpets and the seventh trumpet into the seven bowls. The seventh bowl represents a series of judgments that end at Armageddon(Rev.16:17-19:21).
There are seven angels who sound the seven trumpets. There are seven avenging angels administering the seven bowls(Rev.15:1,6). The Dragon, the First beast, and the scarlet-colored beast have seven heads(Rev.12:3,13:1). The seven heads are the seven previous beast empires of Satan. There are seven mountains on which the woman sitteth(Rev.17:9). The seven mountains are synonymous with the seven heads of the Dragon, the First Beast, and the Scarlet-coloured Beast which are the seven Beast Empires inasmuch as mountains signify kingdoms. And there are seven kings or emperors over the seven Beast Empires. The great tribulation and the eschatological day of the Lord occur within the 70th seven of Daniel’s 70 seven prophecy(Dan.9:24-27). The 1000 year reign of Christ(Rev.20:6) is the seventh millennium, the Shabbat of the Lord as it were.
The 70th Week Of Daniel’s 70 Weeks Prophecy.
The Seventy Sevens Of Daniel
“Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.”(Daniel 9:24).
The 70th Week is the last 7 years of the 490 years spoken of by Daniel the prophet.
“And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.”(Daniel 9:27).
The starting point of this 7-year period is the signing of the 7-year peace treaty by the antiChrist with the many from within Israel which also marks the end of the Gentile interlude between the 69th and the 70th weeks. It is divided into two equal halves of three and one-half years each. The first half called the beginning of sorrows or beginning birth pangs or pains covers the first three seals of Rev.6. The second half called the travail or real hard labor begins at the midpoint, and covers the Great Tribulation, the cosmic and celestial disturbances, and the first six trumpets of the Day Of The Lord. It ends with the death of the two witnesses. Most of the activities and events of the end times occur within this brief period of 7 years. It is the last seven years of this present age. Within it the antiChrist shall arise on the world scene as the most powerful ruler of the most powerful empire in history. Beyond it is a brief interim period of 75 days after which is the Millennial reign of Christ which is the age to come.
Stars.
Star Studded Sky
There are two usages of stars in the Book of Revelation. There is the literal ordinary everyday usage and there is the metaphorical and symbolic usage. In Rev.12, there appeared a wonder in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars. The usages of the sun, moon and stars are symbolic and metaphorical in this passage. In Middle Eastern mythology, the sun is male and the moon female. The stars are their male offspring. This is clear from the interpretation of the dream of Joseph by his father Jacob. Will I and your mother and your brethren come to bow to you? For Joseph dreamed a dream in which the sun, the moon and the eleven stars kowtowed and did obeisance to him. The sun and the moon were his parents and the eleven stars his eleven brethren(Gen.37:9-11).
In Rev.1, Jesus was holding the seven stars in His right hand. And we are told the seven stars are the angel of the seven churches. Stars are used symbolically and figuratively of men and of angels to signal luminosity. There are angelic and human luminaries. Those who turn many to righteousness shall shine as the stars for ever(Dan.12:3). In Rev.9:1, it is written, a star fell from heaven and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. This star turned out to be an angel. When Jesus was born, His Star was seen in the East by the Magi(Matt.2:2). However, in Rev.8:12, the literal ordinary usage of the words sun, moon and stars are intended. Therefore the context determines the meaning whether ordinary literal meaning or otherwise metaphorical.
Temple
Model Of The Second Temple
There are four Jewish temples spoken about in the whole of the Scriptures. The first two temples which stood on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem are now history. The First was built by King Solomon, son and successor of King David. It was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon in 586 BC. The Second Temple built by the returning exiles from Babylonian captivity around 515 BC was destroyed by the Roman General Titus in 70 AD.
“And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.”(Dan.9:26).
There are two temples which are germane to the study of the Scroll Of Revelation, the Third Temple and the Fourth Temple. Both will be reared up on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. None of these two temples are extant at the moment.
The Third Temple
The Scriptures do not tell us when this temple shall be rebuilt nor the dimensions of it. What the Scriptures tell us is that after the seven-year peace pact between Israel and the antiChrist is ratified, animal sacrifice and grain and drink offering which have been suspended since the destruction of the Second temple in 70 AD shall recommence. It is this temple that the antiMessiah shall desecrate and in it he will abolish the daily sacrifice and offerings at the midpoint of the 70th week of Daniel.
“And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.”(Dan.9:27).
This temple shall be destroyed by God at the outpouring of the seventh bowl Judgment.
“And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.”(Rev.16:17-19).
The rebuilding of the Third Temple is one of the landmark events of the end times.
The Fourth Temple: The Millennial Temple
The Fourth Temple shall be built by Christ Himself after the war of Armageddon during the 45-day Restoration Period Of The Kingdom. The plan of this temple is revealed by God to prophet Ezekiel in Ezek.40-43. This temple shall stand throughout the whole of the Millennium. The Fourth Temple Period is the same as the Millennium. The Jews have drawn a plan of the Third Temple based on Ezek.40-43, it is highly improbable they shall be able erect a temple of this magnitude in the Third Temple Period due to opposition from their Arab and Muslim neighbors.
Trumpets.
The Seven Angels With The Seven Trumpets
The use of trumpet in the Book of Revelation could be both literal and metaphorical. The main usage however is the blowing of the trumpets which constitute part of the wrath of God. The seven trumpets emerge from the seventh seal when it is broken. The seven trumpets are administered by seven angels. An angel blows a trumpet in heaven, and certain events unfold on Earth. A literal trumpet is blown, but that it eventuates in certain occurrences on Earth is not literal. Ordinarily, a trumpet is blown on Israel’s feast days, to herald a new moon, prepare for war or call a solemn assembly. In Ancient Israel, the sounding of the trumpet heralds the arrival of certain events(Num.10:1-10). In other words, the sounding of the trumpet is symbolic. When a trumpet is blown and certain events occur on Earth, that is not literal. At the Rapture, a trumpet shall be blown before the saints are gathered from one end of the heaven to another(Matt.24:31).
Woman.
There are two women spoken of in the Scroll Of Revelation, the woman clothed with the Sun and the Moon under her feet, and the the woman that sits on the scarlet colored Beast with seven heads and ten horns.
1. The Woman Clothed With The Sun.
The Woman Clothed With The Sun And The Moon Under Her Feet
“And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.”(Rev.12:1-2).
This pregnant woman with gravid uterus who gave birth to a man child who is Jesus the Messiah of Israel and all mankind is the nation of Israel. The Great Red Dragon was eager to devour this child but was prevented from doing do so supernaturally by the power of God(Rev.12:3-6). This woman has two offspring: those who keep the commandments of God, the observant Jews, and those who have the testimony of Jesus, the believers in Jesus from all nations of the Earth. During the Great Tribulation, this woman(specifically the 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel) shall flee into the wilderness where she shall be given protection for three and one-half years or 1,260 days. There are some that teach that this woman is the Church. This cannot be true because the Church did not give birth to Jesus. Israel birthed the the Messiah. Jesus birthed the Church. So, the Church originates from Israel. The twelve foundation apostles of the Lamb were Jewish(Matt.10:1-4, Rev.21:14), so also were the earliest disciples of Jesus(Acts 1:15). Salvation originates from the Jews(Jon.4:22).
2. The Great Whore
The second woman is the figure of all false religions that have persecuted the Jewish people and believers in Jesus the Messiah throughout history. She is also referred to as the Great Whore. Idolatry is spiritual fornication.
“And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.”(Rev.17:1-6).
This woman who sits on the scarlet-colored Beast with seven heads and ten horns also sits on seven mountains. It therefore follows that the scarlet-colored Beast with seven heads and seven horns is the same as the seven mountains. The seven mountains are synonymous with the seven-headed seven-horned scarlet colored Beast. The seven mountains and seven heads are the seven previous Beast Empires of Satan that had negatively impacted Israel. This woman is false religion of mother child worship. The origin of this false religion of mother-child worship is Babylon. It was founded by Nimrod and his wife Semiramis. After the confusion of languages at Babel, all the descendants of Noah spread it all over the world as they migrated. It is found among all peoples groups. It is Roman Catholicism. It is Islam. It is New Age Religion, Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Shintoism and every other false religion. The archenemy of all these religions is Christianity and Judaism. The Romish Church, Islam, and Hindus have murdered Christians. In the last hour of history it shall be reconvened in its city of origin, Babylon, in the land of Shinar, as some sort of ecumenism(Zech.5:1-11). This false religion headquartered in Babylon, and its branches all of the world, in all forms and ramifications shall be finally destroyed at the outpouring of the final seventh bowl judgment(Rev.16:16-18:1-24).
Wrath.
Celestial Bodies
The controversy over the timing of the Rapture of the church centers around the word wrath. If one believes the wrath of God begins at the start of the 70th seven of Daniel, then the church will not go through the great tribulation because the church is exempt from the wrath of God(1 Thess.1:10, 5:9). This is the Pretribulation Rapture Position. If on the other hand the wrath of God does not begin until the end of the 70th seven of Daniel, then the church shall go through the Great Tribulation and be raptured at the end of the 70th seven of Daniel. This is the Post-tribulation Rapture Position. If the wrath of God begins in the middle of the 70th seven, then the church shall be raptured in the middle of the 70th seven of Daniel shortly before the wrath of begins. This is the Mid-tribulation Rapture Position. The Partial Rapture Theory which is a modified Pretribulational Rapture Position posits that some saints who are spiritual will be raptured before the 70th week and some others at various points within the 70th week depending on their spiritual preparedness and readiness. This view sounds pious, based on spirituality of the saints, but is biblically unfounded.
The pretribulationists make no distinction between the wrath of God and the wrath of Satan. The whole of the 70th seven is seen as the period of God’s wrath and the time of Jacob’s trouble(Jere.30:7). Not all pretribs share the view that the whole of the 70th week is the time of Jacob’s trouble(Ronald E. showers). This cannot be true inasmuch as there is a difference between the wrath of God and the wrath of Satan both of which occur within the 70th week of Daniel(Rev. 6:17; 12:12). The wrath of Satan is directed against God’s people and the wrath of God directed against the worshippers and adorers of the Dragon-Beast. The two are neither simultaneous, nor coincident nor concurrent. There is no overlap between the two. Which one occurs first? The wrath of Satan. When Satan is cast down to the Earth at the midpoint of the 70th week, he has great wrath knowing that he has but a short time before he is cast into the abyss in Rev.20.
“Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.”(Rev.12:12).
The wrath of Satan begins at the commencement of the 70th week, gets progressively worse and intensifies at the midpoint of the 70th week with the breaking of the fourth seal which corresponds with the downing of Satan to the Earth from the heavenly premises by archangel Michael(Rev.12:7-9). The fifth seal is a heavenly scene and reflects the killings going on on Earth under the fourth seal. So, the first four seals have nothing to do with the wrath of God at all, but everything to do with the wrath of Satan. Until after the breaking of the sixth seal which interrupts the Great Tribulation, the wrath of God is not in view.
The wrath of God begins with the breaking of the seventh seal, and consists of the trumpet and the bowl judgments administered by God’s avenging angelic reapers(Rev.8,9, 16-20).
“Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe( because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.”(2 Thess.1:6-10).
Both the midtribulationist and the post-tribulationist distinguish between the wrath of God and the wrath of Satan, but the timing is something else. The midtribulationists believe that the wrath of God begins in the middle of the 70th week. This cannot be true because the Great Tribulation which is the Great wrath of Satan does not begin until Satan is cast down from the heavenlies to the Earth and possesses the First Beast who is the antiChrist(Rev.12:12). It is precisely at the midpoint of the 70th seven that the First Beast breaks his covenant with Israel(Dan.9:27). Until this covenant is broken, the Beast does not attack Israel. Both pretribulationists and post-tribulationists agree that the Great Tribulation begins precisely at the midpoint of the 70th seven of Daniel. Besides, if God’s wrath begins at the midpoint of the 70th seven, then God should be held accountable for the death of His saints, the fifth seal martyrs( Rev.6:9-11).
This will also be true if the wrath of God begins at the commencement of the 70th week. How can the antiChrist murder so may believers at the time when God is pouring out His Wrath on him and his acolytes? This cannot be true because the souls of the fifth seal martyrs under the golden altar of incense in the temple in heaven, cry out to God for vengeance against their murderers, the beast-marked worsippers and adorers of the Dragon-Beast. God did promise them vengeance after the number of their brethren on Earth who are to be killed is complete. There is a certain number of saints to be martyred. When that quota is complete, God amputates the great tribulation. And avenges their blood when He gives the living wicked Earth-dwellers and worshippers and adorers of the Dragon-Beast blood to drink because they have shed blood and are worthy(Rev.16:6).
Why would God avenge their death on the beast-marked worshippers and adorers of the Dragon-Beast, if God is responsible for their martyrdom? That in itself would be unjust. But God is not an unrighteous Judge. On the other hand, if the wrath of occurs post-tribulation, i.e., at or close to the end of the 70th week, there is really no time left for God to pour out His wrath upon the living wicked earth-dwellers. The fifth trumpet alone lasts as long as five months(Rev.9:5), and there remaineth but 30 days to Armageddon from the end of the 70th seven(Dan.12:11,12). It is obvious therefore that none of these three views are biblically accurate. The pretribulationists from not being able to distinguish between the wrath of God and the wrath of Satan, and the mid-tribulationists and the post-tribulationists from improper timing of the wrath of God. The Prewrath Rapture Position jointly proposed by Marvin J. Rosenthal and Robert van Kampen, of blessed memory, is the only biblically accurate Rapture view that not only distinguishes between the wrath of God and the wrath of Satan, but also properly times the Rapture after the breaking of the sixth seal that terminates the persecution of the saints, but before the breaking of the seventh seal that ushers in the wrath of God.
This view is not entirely new. It was the view of the church fathers. What is new, however, is giving it a theological title. This view creates time to pour out the wrath of God on the living wicked Earth-dwellers and worshippers and adorers of the Dragon-Beast. With this view, there is ample time for the fifth trumpet judgment that lasts as long as five months. The Post-tribulation Rapture View does not allow this time, the Mid-tribulation Rapture View is guilty of attributing the death of the saints to God’s wrath as is the Pretribulation Rapture Position. The Partial Rapture Theory is utter nonsense.
The word tribulation is the English translation of the Greek word “thlipsis.” It is also translated affliction, persecution, distress or trouble. It conveys the idea of pressure, affliction, persecution, anguish or trouble. It has a common root with the Greek word “thlibo” which is commonly translated persecution, and also both of them are used in tandem(Matt.13:21; Mark 4:17; Rom.8:35). It is used about twenty times in the NT. The most frequent use is in a nonprophetic or noneschatological setting. For instance:
“In the world ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world”(Jon.16:33).
Paul wrote to the Romans,
“And we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us”( Rom.5:3,4).
Paul also wrote to the church at Corinth concerning the comfort with which they were comforted of God in time of persecution:
“Who comforted us in all our tribulation, that we may be able also to comfort them who are in any trouble, by the comfort with whichwe ourselves are comforted of God”(2 Cor.1:4).
There are only six verses of the Scriptures which can be clearly identified as using the word tribulation in a prophetic or eschatological context or setting. Rom.2:2-9 and 2 Thess.1:6 may have prophetic or eschatological significance but have no bearing on the chronology of the great tribulation. Of the six, one of them occurs in the OT.
“When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days”(Deut.4:30).
There is no clearly defined period in the OT referred to as the latter days. Therefore the word tribulation in this context must be interpreted in the light of its clear usage in the NT.
Of the five usages of the word in a prophetic or eschatological context, four occur in the Gospels in the teachings of our Lord Jesus the Christ. All these four occurrences are in the Olivet Discourse(Matt.24,25; Mk.13; Luk.21). The fifth occurs in the Book of Revelation. In the Olivet Discourse, Jesus spoke to his disciples, saying,
“For then shall there be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be”(Matt.24:21).
The Great Tribulation that our Lord is speaking about here shall occur in relation to the desecration of temple with the abomination that maketh desolate spoken of by Daniel the prophet(Dan.9:27), and the warning to flee Jerusalem added by our Lord Jesus Christ(Matt.24:15-20). The desecration of the Rebuilt Third Jewish temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem is generally agreed by biblical scholars to occur precisely in the middle of the 70th week of Daniel(Dan.9:27; cp. Rev.12:6,14), specifically three and one-half years into the 70th Seven of Daniel. The word tribulation in Matt.24:21 is qualified with the modifier or adjective Great which sets it apart from any other tribulation we may experience in our lives or the church may have experienced in the past or may experience in the future other than in the context of the 70th week in association with the abomination of desolation. In Matt.24:29, our Lord again used the word tribulation.
“Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give its light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.
“It is obvious anyway that the tribulation our Lord is speaking about in Matt.24:29 is the Great Tribulation which He has already referred to in Matt.24:21. In Mark 13:19, our Lord warned,
“For in those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of creation unto this time, neither shall be.”
The Greek word translated affliction here is the same word “thlipsis” which is translated tribulation or persecution elsewhere. It is also linked as in Matt.24:21 to the desecration of the temple at the midpoint of the 70th Seven of Daniel with the abomination that maketh desolate, and the addendum by our Lord Jesus Christ, the warning to flee Jerusalem(Mark 13:14-18). As in the Olivet Discourse in Matt.24, five verses later, our Lord intimated His disciples,
“But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give its light”(Mark 13:24).
That the tribulation in verse 24, is the same as the affliction in verse 19, there can be no doubt. This is also associated with the desecration of the temple which precedes it as in Matthew. Therefore of the four times our Lord spoke of tribulation in a prophetic or eschatological context, he was speaking of the Great Tribulation which occurs three and one-half years into the 70th Week of Daniel, or precisely at the middle of the 70th week of Daniel, and is associated with the desecration of the temple by the abomination that maketh desolate, and the warning to flee Jerusalem. In each of the four instances where our Lord spoke of the Great Tribulation in a prophetic context or setting, He was referring to the persecution of God’s elect in the hands of wicked men, never the wrath of God which is directed towards the wicked who obey not God nor worship Him. Therefore, prophetically, the Great Tribulation is the wrath of Satan executed by wicked men against the saints of the Most High, not God’s wrath against the living wicked earth-dwellers, worshippers and adorers of the antiChrist.
As we have pointed out, the other use of the word tribulation is in the Book of Revelation in relation to the great multitude which no man could number arriving in Heaven.
“And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, Who are these who are arrayed in white robes? And from where did they come? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of the great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb”(Rev.7:13,14).
The phrase translated great tribulation here is literally the tribulation the great in Greek. As in the Olivet Discourse in Matthew, the word tribulation is qualified with the adjective great. It is no doubt a reference to the Great Tribulation which begins at the midpoint of the 70th Seven of Daniel which is precipitated by the abomination of desolation, not at the inauguration of the 70th Seven of Daniel. On examination of the use of the word tribulation in the Bible in a prophetic or eschatological context or setting, a clear fact emerges. It is always used to describe the period of time that begins at the midpoint of Daniel’s 70th seven of Daniel, but never the first half of it. Therefore, it is technically wrong to refer to Daniel’s 70th week of Daniel as The Tribulation Period, and the second half as The Great Tribulation. It may in fact be somewhat acceptable to refer to the 70th week of Daniel as the Tribulation Period; for it is definitely a period of trouble, it does however build an a priori case for pretribulation rapture position. It is definitely wrong to refer to the second half of the 70th week as The Great Tribulation: for that would mean that The Great Tribulation covers the entire length of the second half of the 70th seven of Daniel, which indeed is not the case. Some Bible expositors like the gifted Greek scholar Kenneth Wuest call the entire 70th week of Daniel the Great Tribulation. According to Wuest,
“The next prophetic event will be the Day of Christ or the rapture of the Church. Following that will come the great tribulation, a period of seven years, the seventieth week of Daniel(Dan.9:24-27).”
This view ignores the fact that the great tribulation begins precisely at the midpoint of the 70th week of Daniel when the antiChrist imports the image of himself into the Holy Of holies of rebuilt Jewish temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem dedicated to the worship of Jehovah God. Louis Sperry Chafer, shares the same erroneous view. As touching the tribulation period, he wrote:
“concerning the great tribulation period, it has been observed that it is the seventieth week of seven years which was predicted by Daniel.”
The large majority of pretribulation writers view the entire 70th week as The Tribulation Period, and the last three and one-half years as The Great Tribulation. For example the comment of Charles Caldwell Ryrie on Daniel 12:7.
“The events of the Tribulation will be consummated when the three and one-half years(the three and one-half years of that seven-year period) come to a close. These last three and one-half years constitute the great tribulation”(cf. Matt.24:21).
However, the word of God does not teach that the Great Tribulation is three and one-half years in duration. This is an assumption by pretribulation rapturism that is biblically unfounded. Our Lord Jesus spoke of the Great Tribulation that will begin at the midpoint of the 70th week of Daniel(Matt.24:21). He said,
“And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened”(Matt.24:22).
The only possible antecedent to “and except those days should be shortened” is The Great Tribulation. The Great Tribulation is the diseased part of the limb. Just like an orthopedic surgeon would amputate a limb part of which has been totally damaged by osteomyelitis, lest it kills the patient, the Lord like an orthopod will amputate(Greek: koloboo), the Great Tribulation. What is cut short or better still amputated is the Great Tribulation, not the entire length of the second half of the 70th seven of Daniel. The same truth is taught in the Olivet Discourse in the Gospel According To Saint Mark.
“For in those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of creation which God created unto this time, neither shall be. And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect’s sake, whom He hath chosen, He hath shortened the days”(Mark 13:19,20).
So, it is very clear that what is shortened or better still amputated is the Great Tribulation, not the entire second half of the 70th week of Daniel.
The prophet Daniel was told by the angel of the Lord, “Seventy weeks are determined upon they people , and the Holy city(Dan.9:24). The 70th week is the last seven years of Daniel’s prophecy of 70 weeks. In Rev. 12:6, this period is designated in days.
“And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared by God that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.”
1,260 is 42 months or three and one-half years. It was also designated in months:
“And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months”(Rev.13:5).
Forty-two months is also three and one-half years. Rev.12:14 refers to it in years:
“And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.”
It is obvious from the aforementioned Scriptures that the entire 70th week is not shortened, neither the second half of three and one-half years. What is shortened is the Great Tribulation. It is less than three and one-half years in duration. It begins at the middle of the 70th weeks of Daniel, but does not run until the end of the 70th week of Daniel. For the elect’s sake, it shall be shortened. The Great Tribulation shall be cut short with cosmic and celestial disturbances.
“Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give its light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken; and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory”(Matt.24:29,30).
The cosmic disturbances parallel the sixth seal(Rev.6:12,13). The cosmic disturbances will darken the heavens and frozen the earth. It will be the appearance of the son of man in the heavens, the Shekinah that will dispel the darkness, brighten the heavens and defrost the earth. The natural lights of the universe shall be shut off, and the supernatural light, the glory of God shall be revealed. The manifestation of God’s glory, the Shekinah signals the presence of God. This is the sign of His coming and the end of the ages. God’s presence will be revealed through the universal manifestation of His glory, the Shekinah. He then raptures the Church before He pours out His wrath upon the living wicked earth-dwellers.
God’s wrath, contained in the seventh seal, consists of the the seven trumpets and the seven bowls. Cosmic and celestial disturbances, the sixth seal will precede the coming of the Lord to rapture the Church and judge the living wicked earth-dwellers, worshippers and adorers of the Dragon-Beast. If the sixth seal is placed at the end of the 70th week as pretribulation rapturists do, what ever happens to the seven trumpets and seven bowls, considering the fact that there are but 30 days to Armageddon. The fifth trumpet alone lasts as long as five months and the sixth trumpet perhaps even longer. There is no doubt that their chronology of eschatological events is without biblical justification.
Here is a summary of the major points we have presented so far about the Great Tribulation.
(1) The Great Tribulation begins at the midpoint of the 70th week of Daniel provoked by the abomination of desolation and the unveiling of the man of sin.
(2) Although the Great Tribulation occurs in the second half of the 70th seven of Daniel, it does not run the whole length of three and one-half years.
(3) It is amputated by the cosmic disturbances, the sixth seal.
(4) The sixth seal darkens the heavens and freezes the Earth. It is the Shekinah, the appearance of His coming, the visible and universal manifestation of the glory of God that will dispel the darkness and defrost the Earth. It is the sign of His coming and of the end of the ages, His answer to the question posed to the Lord by His disciples,
“What shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end of the ages?”
(5) Christ’s coming will be to rapture the Church and to judge the living wicked earth-dwellers, worshippers, and adorers of the antiChrist.
Introduction
The Great Tribulation begins precisely at the midpoint of the 70th week of Daniel when there is war in the heavenlies, and Satan and his fallen evil angels are cast down to the Earth.
“Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and of the sea! for the Devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he has but a short time”(Rev.12:12b).
He possesses the antiChrist, gives him his power, seat and great authority(Rev.13:2). At this juncture, the antiMessiah suffers from what is called political megalomania. He relocates his headquarters to Jerusalem(Dan.11:45), makes his debut at the rebuilt Jewish temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem(2 Thess.2:4), desecrates the temple by importing a statue of himself into the Holy of Holies of the temple(Dan.9:27; Matt.24:15), unveils himself as a dead man come back to life(2 Thess.2:3; Rev.13:3), declares himself God, demanding worship of all mortals(2 Thess.2:4), and surrounds Jerusalem with his armies(Luk.21:20).
The importation of the image of the antiMessiah into the rebuilt Jewish temple on Mount Moriah, the Third Temple, the desecration of the precincts of the temple by the antiChrist and his acolytes, Gentiles who have no covenantal and saving relationship with the God of Israel, and the violation and spoilation of the Holy Of Holies is the Abomination of desolation.
“And for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the one who maketh desolate”(Dan.9:27c).
The phrase overspreading of abomination or wing of abomination in the KJV is better rendered extreme point of abomination. It is the height, zenith, the apogee of abomination. It shall bring desolation to the rebuilt Jewish temple on Mount Moriah dedicated to the worship of the one and only true God, Yahweh of Judah. Like his prefigure, the Greek king of Syria, Antiochus Theos Epiphanes, the antiChrist shall desire to assimilate all peoples in his realm of dominion. Every citizen of his kingdom must abandon his own God or gods, culture and customs, embrace and worship him as God, and accept his prescribed way of life.
When the temple is thus violated, the observant Jews who through length of experience have come to abhor idolatry and sacrilege shall desert the temple. This abomination shall make the temple a desolation because it shall cause the worshippers in the temple to desert it. Besides, at the same time the antiMessiah desecrates the temple, he also declares himself God, and demands worship of all mortals, more so of the Jews in Jerusalem. The antiMessiah does not just demand to be worshipped, he kills anyone who refuses to worship him as God(Rev.13:15). For this purpose, he shall surround Jerusalem with armies.
“And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is near”(Luk.21:20).”Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped: so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God”(2 Thess.2:4).
At the same time also, he unveils himself as a dead man come back to life.
“And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, Saying, Who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him?”(Rev.13:4).
The world shall be frightened into submission to the antiChrist simply because he is dead man come back to life. Apostle Paul writing to the Thessalonians warned them:
“Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there be a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition”(2 Thess.2:3).
When the scripture warns us to beware of deception, it is because there is a great risk of deception. It is because there is a likelihood some might begin to teach that That Day, the Day Of The LORD, the day on which the Rapture shall take place might occur prior to the unveiling of the man of sin. Apostle Paul makes it clear here that That Day shall not occur until there be an apostasy first and the man of sin be revealed. Greek scholars tell us that by the tenor of the words, both events, the apostasy and the revelation of the man of sin are initiated simultaneously on the same day, and at the same place, in the rebuilt Jewish temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem.
When the antiChrist unveils himself as a dead man come back to life, and declares himself God, demanding worship by all mortals, very few men will have the bravado to resist him. A good number of Jews and Christians shall capitulate to his authority, abandoning the Faith of their fathers. This is what Apostle Paul described as “the falling away first” , an event that will precede the Rapture and the Day Of The LORD. Those who refuse to capitulate to the authority of the antiMessiah shall desert the temple to flee into the Judaean wilderness. Although both events are concurrent and simultaneous, the unveiling of the man of sin and the apostasy, Paul reasoned from effect backwards to the cause. The unveiling of the man of sin as dead man come back to life, his self-deification and demand to be worshipped by all and sundry are the causes of the apostasy and the desolation of the temple. It is not some nebulous apostasy in the Church Age before the 70th week of Daniel.
The Great Tribulation covers the following events in the eschatological timeline: the Jerusalem campaign(Luk.21:20), the 4th and 5th seals of the Scroll of Revelation(Rev.6:8-11), and the Jehoshaphat campaign(Joel 3:1,2). All these events occur in the second half of the 70th Seven of Daniel beginning from the midpoint. And is terminated by the sixth seal, the cosmic and celestial disturbances.
Prelude To The Great Tribulation
The Great Tribulation shall be sparked by a confluence of events that occur in the middle of the 70th week. Precisely at the midpoint of the 70th week, a lot of critical events occur which initiate the Great Tribulation by the antiChrist which is the great wrath of Satan. The wrath of Satan begins at the commencement of the 70th seven, when the antiChrist signs a seven-year peace treaty with the many from within Israel, but turns into a Great Wrath when he is cast down to the Earth in the middle of the 70th seven of Daniel.
“Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the Devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time”(Rev12:12b).
(1) War In The Heavenlies
The headquarters of Satan is not in Hell as some people urge us to believe. Satan dreads Hell which God built for him and his fallen evil angels(Matt.25:41). The headquarters of the kingdom of darkness is in the Dark Void from where he scurries off to Heaven of heavens to accuse the believers and roams the Earth, seeking whom he may devour, (Job 1:7,2:2; 1 Pet.5:8) and the starry heavens. But precisely in the middle of the 70th seven, Satan’s access to the Heaven of heavens shall be cut off.
“And there was war in heaven: Michael, and his angels fought against the Dragon; and the Dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great Dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out unto the earth, and his angels were cast out with him”(Rev.12:7-9).
Michael, the warrior archangel of God, and the angels of God under his command, fought against the Dragon and his fallen evil angels. The Dragon and his hordes of fallen evil angels were defeated, and forcibly cleared out from the Dark Void and the starry heavens. They were forcibly evicted from the heavenlies. They lost their abode in the heavenlies. The Dragon lost his access to the court of Heaven where he accuses the brethren before the Lord.
“Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them”(Rev.12:12).
This shall bring much joy to the heavenly dwellers; for no one brings foul accusations before them against the saints on Earth any more. They shall be joyful to be rid of his obnoxious accusations against the saints on Earth and his frequent foul presence in the holy precincts of the court of heaven.
(2) Satan Cast Down To The Earth
The first stage of the execution of the sentence against Satan was his eviction from the Heaven of heavens to the Dark Void and starry heavens. It is from there that he goes to and fro the Earth, up and down in it. From there he prowls around on Earth as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour(Job 1:7; 2:2; 1 Pet.5:8). The second stage of the execution of the sentence against Satan and his rebellious fallen evil angels will be to cast them down from the Dark Void and the starry heavens to the earth. He shall be barred access from not only the Heaven of heavens and the Throne Room of God in the Temple in Heaven but also from the Dark Void and the starry heavens. His sphere of influence will be restricted to the Earth.
“And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night”(Rev.12:10).
(3) The Removal Of The Restrainer
What is holding back the tide of evil from inundating the Earth is the presence of the restrainer. Obviously the Church, human government and the Holy Spirit have some restraining influence on evil on Earth, but none of these have been identified as the restrainer amongst Orthodox Jews in antiquity. The identity of the restrainer is not debatable amongst orthodox Jewish scholars. The restrainer has been identified in antiquity as archangel Michael. Without the removal of the restrainer, evil cannot run riot on Earth. Without the removal of the restrainer, there will be no Great Tribulation. At the midpoint of the 70th week, after he has cast down Satan with his fallen evil angels to the Earth, prior to their being herded into the abyss and Hell respectively, God shall put him on a leave of absence. Our brother Paul writing to the Thessalonians said:
“And you know what withholdeth that he may be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now leteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall the wicked one be revealed, the son of perdition, whom the Lord shall consume with the Spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming: even him whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, with all, deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; became they received not the love of the truth, that they may be saved”(2 Thess.2:6-10).
There are two personalities identified here. The second personality is the antChrist, the lawless or wicked one, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power, signs, and lying wonders. There is no argument about the identity of the second personality. But there is no consensus of opinion amongst Christian Bible scholars about the identity of the second personality. Our brother Paul did not bother to identify the restrainer to his audience because his identity was already pretty well known to his immediate audience, the Thessalonians. Paul probably told them who he was in his previous oral instructions while he was with them. When the archangel Michael “amads”, that is, ceases to do what he normally does best, defending the people of God, there shall be a time of trouble.
“And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince who standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, everyone that shall be found written in the book of life. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to everlasting contempt”(Dan.12:1,2).
The 15th century French Jewish scholar Rashi commenting on this Scripture said: “The Holy One, blessed be His name, said to Michael, ” stand still,” thou shall not defend my people any more.” So, the correct translation of “amad” is stand still. So Michael will not stand up, or arise, in order to defend Israel during the time of trouble that follows immediately, but rather will stand still or stop doing what he normally does, that is stop his restraining influence over the demonic forces of Satan. The antiChrist will now reveal his true identity to the world, and as Satan’s proxy will vent the fury of Satan on the people of God. Immediately Michael stands still, there is a time of distress. The time of distress that occurs following the removal of the retraining influence of archangel Michael is identifiable with the Great Tribulation by the antiChrist which is a manifestation of the wrath of Satan against the people of God. What Daniel said about this time of trouble is the same as what Christ said about the Great Tribulation:
“For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be”(Matt.24:21).
“And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was nation even to that same time”(Dan.12:1a).
The statement in Mat.24:21, “such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be” is identical to the statement in Dan.12:1, “and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time.” And we can see that this time of trouble which has no comparison to any in the annals of history nor any future events shall be inaugurated when Michael the prince that standeth for thy people “amad.” This time of trouble is associated with the cessation of Michael standing up for the people of God. In the light of these Scriptures, it is evident that Michael is the restrainer who standeth for thy people; for scripture must be compared with scripture, and also scripture interprets scripture.
(4) Satan Possesses And Empowers The antiChrist
With the restrainer taken out of the way, there is no one to rein in the Devil. Satan possesses the antiChrist. He gives him his power, seat, and great authority to rule over the Earth on his behalf.
“And the Dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority”(Rev.13:2).
Babylon will become the hold and cage of every foul spirit and hateful bird.
“And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and the cage of every unclean and hateful bird”(Rev.18:2).
There is a city called Babylon. It shall become the religious and commercial headquarters of the kingdom of the antiMessiah. Babylon also refers to the false religion instituted by the antiChrist, and headed by the false prophet. It is also referent to corrupt human government and religion, and the attendant commercialism instituted by Nimrod in defiance to God. Adherents of this religion shall be highly demonized by the evil and foul spirits evicted from the dark void and the starry heavens at the middle of the 70th week. These demons shall possess whosoever they can. Because of the high level of demonization, evil shall run riot on Earth. Violence shall be the order of the day. Men and women shall drink sexual immoralities like water. Drunkenness and drug addiction shall be the staple of many. So also will be murder and ritual killings, and all kinds of evil and vices.
(5) antiChrist Relocates His Headquarters To Jerusalem
Before the midpoint of the 70th seven of Daniel, the headquarters of the antiChrist shall be somewhere in the land of Magog, from where he shall form a coalition of the three most powerful European nations, Magog, Meshech, and Tuval. He shall unite them with Javan, which may be Greece or Greek Syria, and six other nations in Africa and the Near East- Cush(Sudan), Libya(Put or Phut), Iraq(Babylon), Iran(Persia), Gomer and Togamar(Turkey, Azerbaijan) – to form a ten-nation confederation, the 8th and Final Beast Empire. He amasses the most powerful armies in the annals of military history with the most sophisticated weaponry ever. Posing as Israel’s protector on account of the peace treaty, he relocates his headquarters to Jerusalem at the midpoint of the 70th week.
“And he shall plant the tabernacle of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end and none shall help him”(Dan.11:45).
The seas spoken of here are the Mediterranean Sea and the Dead Sea. The glorious holy mountain is Mount Moriah, the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Jerusalem is the epicenter of the Earth. It is the gateway to the three major continents, Africa, Asia, and Europe. Besides, the enemies of the antiChrist are not in Europe and America but in Asia and Africa. It shall be easier for him to administer his armies from the Middle East. And most importantly, he wants to show the world that he is superior to the Sovereign LORD of the Universe, the God of Israel and the Christians by taking over the Third Jewish Temple on Mount Moriah built for the worship of Jehovah.
(6) antiChrist Makes His Debut At The Temple
On relocating his headquarters to Jerusalem, he makes his debut at the rebuilt Jewish temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem. There he shall reveal himself as a dead man come back to life and demand worship of all mortals.
“And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall the wicked be revealed, who the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming: Even him whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they receive not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause, God shall send them a strong delusion, that they should believe the lie: That all might be darmed who believed not the Truth, had pleasure in unrighteousness”(1 Thess.2:6-12).
(7) antiChrist True Identity Unveiled
Prior to this time, the antiChrist shall travel incognito, unrecognized as it were for who he truly is. Except for members of his inner circle and the believers who have learned from the word of God of his true identity, the mass of humanity would not know that the antiMessiah is a dead man come back to life, who has ruled one of the seven previous beast empires of Satan, who shall ascend from the abyss, the underworld of the dead to rule the 8th and Final Beast Empire of Satan. Because it will serve his purpose, he will not hide his identity any more. He shall take away the veil and reveal himself as a dead man come back to life. Men shall be literally paralyzed with fear. This shall be the singular most important factor that shall grant him overwhelming influence over the lives of the majority of the living wicked earth-dwellers.
“And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to the death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. And they worshipped the dragon who gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying , who is like unto the beast, and who is able to make war with him?”(Rev.13.3,4).
As for the Jews who made a peace covenant with him, it shall be so terrifying for them to understand that they have made a covenant with a dead man come back to life(Is.28:19).
(8) antiChrist Makes Himself God
When Satan entered into Judas, the man from Iscara, he betrayed his Master Jesus. When he possesses the antiChrist, he shall become a political megalomaniac. He declares himself God, and demands worship of all living earth-dwellers.
“Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there be a falling away first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God”(2 Thess.2: 3,4).
( 9) The Abomination Of Desolation
The antChrist and his henchmen shall violate the precincts of the rebuilt Third Jewish temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem dedicated to the worship of Jehovah. At the same time he violates the temple precincts, he shall import a robotic image of himself into the Holy Of Holies of the temple. This shall be like in the days of Antiochus Epiphanes, the seventh Greek ruler of the Seleucid dynasty who defiled the Jewish altar of holocaust by sacrificing a pig, an unclean animal on it. He also put a statue of the Olympian Zeus or the Canaanite Baal Shemen in the Holy Of Holies of the second temple built by the returning exiles. The image of the Olympian Zeus was a bust of Antiochus himself. He claimed to be the God made manifest, Antiochus Theos Epiphanes. He was the prefigure of the antiMessiah.
So, like his prefigure, the antiMessiah shall desecrate the Holy Of Holies of the rebuilt third Temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem. This is the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet.
“And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week, he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abomination he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined, shall be poured upon the one who maketh desolate”(Dan.9:27).
This shall be the extreme point of abomination when a man sits in the temple built for the worship of Jehovah, declares himself God, and demands worship of all mortals.
“Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God , or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God”(2 Thess.2:3,4).
(10) Abolition Of The Daily Sacrifice
When the Jewish temple on Mount Moriah is rebuilt, the Jews shall resume temple worship and the daily morning and evening animal sacrifice, grain, and drink offerings. When the antiMessiah makes his debut at the temple, he shall put a stop to the daily animal sacrifices, meal and drink offerings.
“In the midst of the week, he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease”(Dan.9:27b).
He will do this because he will not recognize any God. He will not brook any rivals.
“who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God or worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God”(2 Thess.2:4).
(11) The antiMessiah Demands Worship Of All Men
From the moment the antiChrist declares himself God, he shall demand all men worship him. The larger majority of the living wicked earth-dwellers shall worship him being awed by the fact that he is a dead man come back to life. The antiChrist is not just a dead man come back to life, he ruled over one of the seven previous beast empire of Satan. He will be recognizable. A lot of folks will be awed, frightened and horrified by this singular fact, and will not have the courage to resist him. They will question their ability to resist him because of the fact that he is a dead man come back to life, and because their names were not written in the Lamb’s book of life.
“They worshipped the Dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him?”(Rev.13:4).
The true believers will not worship him nor bow nor capitulate to his authority. They will not give him allegiance. They would rather die than worship nor bow before him. Beyond this, the antiMessiah has the most sophisticated armies in the world at his beck and call. He is also in control of food supply. To effect his plan to get all men to worship him, he shall introduce a mark of loyalty to his assumed divinity. Anyone who receives this Mark shall be a loyal citizen of his kingdom. Anyone chipped or branded shall be at liberty to buy and sell, and engage in any business transactions, and be credited with fiat money in one’s account. Those who reject this Mark shall not be able to buy and sell. If they have not previously stockpiled food, medicines and other supplies like water and energy, they could die of starvation, exposure to the elements, or be caught trying to procure food for themselves and their families and loved ones. This shall be a horrible period of time in the history of man on Earth.
(12) Extreme Dearth
The wars, commotions and rumors of wars(the second seal), the famines, pestilences and earthquakes(third seal) of the first three and one-half years will create a confluence of hard economic conditions all over the globe. Wars disrupt farming. The population is in motion. Cities will be destroyed alongside whatever industries and businesses therein. Commercial shipping will be disrupted as nations war one against another. Goods from combatant nations may not get into enemy countries. Nations will treat one another as pariahs. Others will be blockaded to bring them to submission. There will be huge refugee crisis. International organizations that deal with refugees and relief agencies will not be able to function. The UN, EU, AU and other regional organizations will be rendered powerless as nations jockey for power. There will be realignment of nations.
Coupled with all these are earthquakes in diverse places. In this kind of situation, it may be virtually impossible to do anything for the victims of natural disasters. When there is an earthquake in a war zone, who will risk his life to go there and bring relief to the victims? The antiChrist has anticipated this condition of extreme dearth. There probably will be economic boom prior to this time. It will probably be like the situation in Egypt in the days of Joseph. There will be years of plenty followed by years of famine. The antiMessiah being the smart Alec that he is would have stockpiled food, medicines and other supplies. He will turn this to his own advantage in time of scarcity. He will use food as a bargaining chip. He will tell the citizens of his kingdom, “I will put a chicken in every pot. Take my mark of allegiance, and you will have plenty to eat and drink.” Do you know what? He shall deliver.
Once anyone takes the mark of allegiance to the Beast, fiat money will be credited to the one’s account so the one can buy and sell. It will be extremely difficult for anyone to resist the antiChrist if one has not adequately prepared ahead of time. The frivolous attitude that God will take care of every believer whether or not one had heeded Christ’s instructions concerning perseverance(Rev.3:10) or not will not hold water. If one does not work, one does not eat. If one has not made adequate preparations in relation to God’s instruction concerning perseverance, one would most probably fall victim to the machinations of the antiMessiah.
Remember that Satan and his hordes of fallen evil angels now abide on Earth. A lot of men are now indwelt by these demons. There is utter wickedness among men. Human feelings will fly out the window. Humaneness will be gone. Men will become heartless and utterly selfish. Most men will be concerned with their immediate needs and nothing else.
“Let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we die”(1 Cor.15:32c).
Corruption will be at its peak. The antiChrist loves this chaotic situation because it enables him to divide and rule, to set one man against another. There will be total insecurity. There is no telling what evil man is capable of in a state of insecurity. There will be insecurity of life, property and food and shelter. In situations like this, men eat one another, and women eat their children and husbands. It shall be very dismal.
(13) The Hybridization Of The Human Race
Right now as I write there is an attempt to corrupt humanity by the incorporation of animal and plant genes into the human genome. This work is going on feverishly in many laboratories around the globe, some of them hidden in the Amazon and African forests away from the prying eyes of some activists. The humanoids or transhumans, the products of these experiments will be neither wholly men, animals nor plants. There is a disconnect between these men and the rest of humanity. This will lead to wickednes and utter chaotic confusion. Men with animal and plant traits but no human sympathy will be an aberration on humanity just like the nephilim in the days of Noah(Gen.6:1-8).
God instituted salvation for man who alone of all creation which He made in His image and likeness. Animals do not have spirits to be redeemed. Their souls are based on their flesh which disintegrate when they die. They are not eternal beings. A union between man, an eternal being made in the image and likeness of God, and plant and animal which are temporal is an abhorrent corruption. Besides, the nephilim are here again. Fallen evil angels are cohabiting with human females and producing and reproducing hybrid humans who are neither wholly men nor angels. These men cannot be saved being humanoids. Fallen angels are locked in unrighteousness and therefore cannot be saved.
God decreed a distinction between men and angels, but Satan and his acolytes are attempting to obliterate that distinction. As it was in th days of Noah before the deluge, these men are utterly heartless without human sympathy. They are here again. In those days, it repented God that He had created man because the wickedness of man was great in the Earth, and thoughts and the imaginations of his heart were evil continually(Gen.6:5).
(14) The Pretribulation Rapture Position
One of the worst evils that has befallen the Church in the last two centuries is the Pretribulation Rapture Position which began amongst the Plymouth Brethren in Britain in 1828. Prior to this time, the historic position of both the Roman Catholics and the Protestants have been that the Church will go through a difficult time during the Great Tribulation before being raptured prior to the outpouring of the wrath of God upon the living wicked earth-dwellers. This position was not designated Prewrath Rapture Position, but that was what it was all about. The Pretribulation Rapture View was popularized in Britain in 1832 by J. N. Darby of the Plymouth Brethren, and Edward Irving, a medical doctor, and a prolific charismatic who is credited with being the father of modern Pentecostalism.
It came across the Atlantic to the United States in the early 20th century. It was picked up and popularized by Dr. C. I. Scofield through his reference Bible. It is the most popular view of The Rapture amongst evangelicals. It has anesthetized the Church to the dangers and horrors of the Great Tribulation which according to the word of God she must go through before being raptured. Of late this view has been further popularized by Tim La Haye and Jerry B. Jenkins through novelization in the book “Left Behind” by Tim La Haye. There are seventeen volumes in the series. Each of them sold over 80 million copies. The Church is inundated with this view which renders some believers impervious to the truth about End Times and very vulnerable to the machinations of the antiMessiah. Holders of this view are very intolerant of others views of The Rapture especially those that teach that the Church will go through all or part of the Great Tribulation.
It will be very disastrous for the Church to enter into the 70th week of Daniel without prior preparation to face the horrors of the Great Tribulation by the antiChrist having been taught that she will be raptured to Heaven on the wings of silver bird before the antChrist hangs out his shingles. Never underestimate the power of false doctrines.
(15) The Church’s Preoccupation With Prosperity
The prosperity message has further weakened the Church being based on the theology of convenience. Because God of miracle is our Papa, we cannot suffer. But it is plainly written in the Scriptures that if we suffer with Him, we shall reign with Him(2 Tim.2:9a).
“Yea, all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution”(2 Tim.3:12).
It is given unto us in the behalf of Christ not only to believe on Him, but to suffer for His sake”(Phil.1:29).
“For I reckon that the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory that shall be revealed in us”(Rom.8:18).
“Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous but grievous: nevertheless afterward, it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby”(Heb.12:11).
There is no taste in the white of an egg(Job 6:6b). There is no pleasure in suffering, but it carries an eternal weight of glory. How can we be so preoccupied with prosperity when Jesus warned us in the parable of the sower that riches are deceitful(Matt.13:22). If we think we can have plenty of it and not be deceived, we are already deceived. Are we wiser than Solomon, the wise king of Israel? Did his wealth not deceive him into thinking he could play around with women, and get away with it? It will not be long before every parrot of prosperity will shut up his mouth. When the antiChrist signs a seven-year peace treaty with Israel, and The Rapture has not taken place, every voice of pretribulation rapturism will be silenced. In that day, they shall go into the basement and upper chambers and cellars to hide themselves. Unfortunately some ministers oblivious of the emergence of the antiMessiah at the commencement of the 70th Week will still be preoccupied with preaching prosperity, success, and the good life, embarking on white elephant church projects, running Bible schools and universities, and looking for solutions to indissoluble social ills until the Great Tribulation happens upon them unawares.
A generation of Christians brought up on bread and butter message of prosperity and no suffering, entering the 70th week of Daniel, confronted with the horrors of the Great Tribulation will be a disaster. Therefore there is a great need to teach the Prewrath Rapture Position, to reorientate the mindset of the Church to go through horrors of the wrath of Satan without falling away.
(16) Economic Collapse And Global Wealth Confiscation
The antiChrist will seek to control the wealth of the world. He needs the money to finance the most sophisticated armies in the world. Therefore he will fleece his citizens. The scripture refers to him as the extortioner and the spoiler.
“Let my outcasts dwell with thee, Moab; be thou a covert to them from the spoiler: for the extortioner is at an end, the spoiler ceaseth, the oppressors are consumed out of the land”(Is.16:4).
During the Great Tribulation, the antiChrist will invade Israel in what is called the Jerusalem campaign. The outcasts of Israel will be those who refuse to give their allegiance to the antiChrist. The outcasts of Israel will flee to Moab, which is part of modern day Jordan to escape captivity. But the Jordanians will not cooperate. Due to age old animosity, the Jordanians will kill some of them, and hand over others to the antiChrist; for which reason they will be severely punished by God in the day of His wrath(Obad.1:10-14; Zeph.2:8-11).
Very soon banks will no longer be bailed out by the government. In case of shrinkage of capital, capital flight or lack of liquidity, banks will be bailed in by the depositors. They will seize the deposits of account holders to restore liquidity. Here the antiChrist is referred to as the extortioner, and the spoiler, and the oppressor. He will take spoil of the temple treasures. He will extort money from the Jews in the land of Israel. He will do this all over his vast empire. He will tax the citizens heavily. He will confiscate the wealth of the citizens especially the rich who do not agree with him. Those who do not take his Mark of allegiance will forfeit their bank accounts and property. He will loot the treasures of conquered nations. He will confiscates their oil wells and mines. He will loot the banks of conquered nations, and confiscate the deposits of account holders. He will confiscate the wealth of churches which do not give him allegiance.
“He shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps”(Dan.11:43).
When the antChrist invades and conquers Egypt, he will loot the treasures of Egypt, the treasures of gold, and of silver, and the precious things of Egypt. These will include artworks and all the archeological treasures of Egypt and the Sinai oil fields. Like ISIS he will auction artworks and archeological treasures in order to raise funds for his vast armies and numerous military campaigns. There is no free launch; someone pays the bill. He will also control the wealth of all the nations of his ten nation confederation; these Kings will give their power and strength, and kingdoms unto him(Rev.17:13,17). This shall be his manner in his kingdom and over the conquered nations.
(17) Modern Technology
One of those factors that will add to the confluence of events to make the Great Tribulation possible will development in modern technology. Google has mapped out the whole world. One can make call to and from almost anywhere in the world. Electronic mails have almost eliminated the art of letter writing as a means of communication. One can communicate with almost anyone anywhere in the world instantly through Skype, BBM, WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Satellite Phone, Zoom, Connect etc. With this ease of communication comes the erosion of privacy. Almost any electronic gadget one purchases nowadays is equipped with GPS. Even thermostats in people’s homes are equipped with GPS. The government and its security apparatus can monitor anyone of its citizens at any time. They can monitor one’s movement and activities. Even when one’s phone is not in use or switched off, the manufacturer and the mobile network can pinpoint its exact location. Every government has the responsibility under God to protect its citizens. In an attempt to sieve out terrorists, criminals and felons, every citizen will be monitored. This is a necessary evil. Christians had better be aware of it.
(a) Biometric Implants
Microchip
With escalation in terror attacks, those in government have enormous responsibility to protect the citizenry. There are private citizens and members of civil liberties union who feel their privacy is being infringed upon or eroded by the activities of the government and its security apparatus. But this is a necessary evil. The government has both the right and the responsibility to protect its citizens. Very soon there will be a harmonization of all biometric data. Driving license, national ID, BVN, NIN, credit and debit card numbers etc will be collapsed into one social security number with all relevant biometric data specific to the individual. Initially this number will be carried about on a plastic card. But in order to avoid theft, it will have to be implanted in some part of the body.
RFID
Biometric implant is already in use in some parts of the world, especially in the Scandinavian countries. This is what the antiChrist will use as a mark of allegiance to his authority. Even before the antiChrist makes his debut at the rebuilt Jewish temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem, biometric implants will be very commonly in use. The antiMessiah will standardize its use and make it compulsory and mandatory in his kingdom. Lots of our celebrities wear tattoos. What is a biometric implant to those who are accustomed to tattoo marks? The society is already being primed for it. Those who fail to capitulate to his authority will not be able to buy and sell or transact any business, and could die of starvation if they have not previously stocked away food, medicines and other supplies.
(b) Cashless Society
Cashless Economy
(c) Internet Of Things
In some societies in the West, except drug barons and money launderers, there is hardly anyone with more than a few notes on one’s person at any point in time. It is very cumbersome to carry money about. There is the risk of loss in transit, theft and armed robbery, leaving a big hole in one’s finance. In a place like Sweden, over 95% of business transactions are done online. Malaysia will soon be the First Nation in the world to become cashless. Very soon cash will be eliminated altogether. With NFC and mobile applications like Google wallet, Apple wallet etc which enables one to purchase online, the use of cash will soon be almost unnecessary. All that is left for it to become a reality is the political will on the part of those in government. With one’s account linked to one’s biometrics, one can purchase almost anything online, it will be delivered to one’s door by robots or drones. A cashless society will enable the government and its security apparatus to monitor almost every transaction except in cases where some agree orally to trade by bater. Because it makes it much easier to monitor terrorists, the government will encourage cashlessness. The antiChrist will eventually use cashlessness to his advantage to regulate and monitor allegiance to himself.
Internet Of Things And You
One of the most wonderful inventions of man in our time is the computer and the Internet. It has revolutionized our world as did the steam engine, crude oil, telephone, electricity, and aeroplane etc. Most valuable things we need today we can purchase online. Very soon we can purchase almost anything online. There will soon be an Internet of things or better still Internet of everything. What that means is that one can purchase anything online. Internet of everything, cashless society and biometric implants will make it a lot easier for the antiChrist and his minions to monitor all transactions to ensure that no one without the mark of allegiance(Mark Of The Beast), can buy or sell. It will be virtually impossible for anyone without the mark of the beast to engage in any form of transactions. Those who do not have this mark could die of starvation if they have not previously stocked away food, medicines and other supplies. If they get anything from anyone who has it, it will be entirely on the grounds of mercy and good will, if not stolen.
(d) Drones And Robots
A Robot
The image of the Beast the antiChrist would use to identify those who do not have the mark of the Beast and to cause them to be killed are robotic images of the Beast. Robots will be used in policing the state and in security outfits. Robots will play vital rolls in modern industry and technology at all levels from the procurement of raw materials(sourcing) to manufacturing and packaging, labeling, and delivery of finished products. Robots will act as dispatch riders and delivery men. In the event of global war, most world powers will field robotic supersoldiers. They can navigate difficult terrains which will be very dangerous to human soldiers.
